How To Be Brave
by Time.To.Vaporize.A.Maths.Teach
Summary: The Vikings are at war with Dragons AND the Scottish! But the dragons become too much, so the Scots and Vikings decide to make a truce, which needs to be agreed by the Royals of Scotland and the tribes chief. Upon meeting, Merida and Hiccup befriend each other fast and both help to train Toothless and go on the journey to protect dragons, themselves and allow their feelings to grow
1. Prologue

**A/N: I hope you enjoy this Crossover story. Just a few things before reading that you should know:**

**Merida and Hiccup are both fourteen.**

**The events of '_Brave_' have already happened**

**Although, yes, Hiccup's crush on Astrid still happens at the beginning, Mericcup shall be the main couple, although it shall only be friendship at the beginning.**

**Here is the Full Summary:  
'The Vikings at war with not just Dragons, but the Scottish as well! But the dragons become too much, so the Scots and Vikings decide to make a temporary truce so the Vikings and Scottish may battle the Dragons as one, which needs to be agreed by the Tribes Chief and the King and Queen of Scotland, who will bring their four children with them. Upon meeting, Merida and Hiccup befriend each other almost immediately and both help go on to help train Toothless, and will both go on the journey to protect the dragons, themselves and _might_ just feel a spark between each other as they do so...'**

**Disclaimer: HELLO! I. Am. A. _Mericcup shipper!_ Is a Disclaimer _really_ necessary? Also, I do not own the Stories picture. It belongs to '_Pinkie-Perfect_' on deviantART.**

**Read, Enjoy, Review and Favourite :-3**

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_**Third Person P.O.V**_

Imagine this setting: We skim above a dark, wild ocean. Then we turn towards a lone island, its name, Berk. It is a gigantic shard of rock jutting straight out of the water. Our sight gazes over rolling hills to reveal a small village nestled on an outcropping of sea mounts.

_**Hiccup's P.O.V**_

_This is Berk. Its twelve days North of hopeless and a few Degrees South of freezing to death. It's located solidly on the meridian of misery._

_My village. In a word, sturdy. And it's been here for seven generations, but every single building is new._

_We have fishing, hunting, and a charming view of the sunsets. The only problems are the pests. You see, most places have mice or mosquitos. We have..._

I pull my wooden, splintering door wide open, and then slam it shut almost as quickly as I opened it. I lean against it as fire shoots through the slats of wood; I try my best to ignore how the wood is now going from warm to burning hot. I am certain that the fire is illuminating my gangly teenage figure, but I also ignore that. I can only find myself to say one thing, although however obvious it is and how used to it by now I should be.

"… _Dragons!_" I gasp.

I turn around and reopen the-now-sizzling wooden door, and leap of my front porch. I begin my run to my destination, weaving through the erupting mayhem as more and more of my fellow Vikings pour out of ever near-by building in every direction, ready for a fight. More dragons swarm in, setting rooftops alight and hauling off sheep.

I continue my run, and see the damage being brought upon Berk. I know what you're thinking. Yes, most people would leave. Not us. We're Vikings. We have stubbornness issues Vikings sound the alarm.

I see more and more Viking men and women pour out into the streets, axes in hand.

I dart through alleys, staying under eaves, making my way through the battle as best as I can.

Oh, well. I guess if you are going to be stuck in my head, with access to my entire thoughts, my utmost secret and most personal thoughts, introductions are in order.

My name's Hiccup. Great name, I know. But it's not the worst. Viking parents believe a hideous name will frighten off gnomes. Like our… _charming_ (notice the sarcasm? Good) Viking demeanour wouldn't do that.

I see more dragons sweep back and forth, dodging axes and blasting the Vikings who throw them. A burly warrior gets tossed in an explosion, knocking me to the ground.

The Viking looks at me and shouts, "Arggghhhh!" in a way that sounds cheery yet insane then grins at me, even with a smouldering beard, "Mornin'!" I get back on my feet and continue to rush past gigantic men and women, many battling one another.

Confused? Sorry, I should have told you this earlier. Lately, dragons haven't been our only… Pests. You see-

"Gah!" I exclaim as I dodge an axe heading Thor-knows-where.

-You see, lately, we Vikings have been in a bit of a… _Scrap_, as we Vikings refer to it, between both dragons and the-

"_FOR SCOTLAND!_" A big, burly, bright red-headed man kitted out in full amour, screamed and charged far off in the distance.

The Scottish. If you haven't figured that out already. I must say, they're putting up an amazing fight against the Vikings… Uh, just don't tell anyone that I said that, I don't want to be disowned, and you have absolutely _no idea_ how much my father and my _entire village_ want to do that already!

I mean who do you know that would take a medium length teenaged boy with scraggily dark auburn hair and murky green eyes, shorter than basically every kind of your usual Viking, but is also far from muscular and is weak compared to the other Viking teens in his class and age group if he told you he was a Viking?

That's what I thought.

I come out of my thought-world just in time to not get my arm lobbed off.

Time to meet the neighbours…

First off, you have Hoark the Haggard...

"What are you doing out!?" He screams at me.

... Then you have Burnthair the Broad...

"Get inside, you foolish boy!" He shouts at me as he goes into battle with a Scotsman and a dragon

...And, lastly, Phlegma the Fierce...

"Get back inside!" She shrieks and then changes it to a battle cry and tackles a dragon-a Gronkle, I think-to the ground.

"Ack" I cough as I breathe in smoke from a near-by burning building.

I pass a lone Viking, picking at his ear.

"Ack… Just…_Ack_" I say again, but with a more disgusted tone this time.

… Enter Stoick, the biggest Viking of all. He yanked me from the path of a strafing dragon and holds aloft to the crowd.

He glowers at me. What are you doing out?! Get inside, _now_!" The flames light up his scowling face and matted red beard. He sets me back down and turns to the sky, searching; searching for dragons.

That's Stoick the Vast. He is the Chief of the tribe. They say that when he was a baby he popped a dragon's head clean off of its shoulders.

Do I believe it?

As I think this, Stoick grabs a wooden cart and hurls it, knocking the strafing dragon out of the sky.

Yes, yes I do.

An explosion forces Vikings to duck. But Stoick stands firm, brushing flaming debris off of his shoulder.

"What have we got?" He barks at his men

"We have Gronkles, Nadders and Zipplebacks. Oh and Hoark saw a Monstrous Nightmare." One man informs him. Stoick nods stiffly.

He pauses, and then asks a question. "Any Night Furies?"

The same man gulps, but answers.** "**None so far."

"Good" he says, obviously relived

"Hoist the torches!" Another Viking shouts.

I take a look at a scene… Massive flaming braziers are raised on poles, lighting up the night sky... and revealing swirling dragons of all types. But below, I cross an open plaza and duck into an open building with a tall chimney. Also known as Gobber's Blacksmith Stall.

"Ah! Nice of you to join the party. I thought you'd been carried off." Gobber greets me as I put on a leather apron and started to put away Gobber's scattered appendages.

"Who? Me? Nah, come on! I'm way too muscular for their taste. Theywouldn't know what to do with allthis."I strike a pose similar to the older teenage boys (that actually _have_ muscles)when they're trying to impress a girl.

"They need toothpicks, don't they?" He beings to grin a me as I get to work, transferring bent and chipped weapons to the forge as Vikings crowd the counter for replacements.

The meathead with attitude and interchangeable hands is Gobber. I've been his apprentice ever since I was little. Well...little-_er_.

"We move to the lower defences. We'll counter-attack with the catapults." I hear Stoick command.

Armed men rush past, flanking others who carry sheep to safety. Stoick follows up the rear as, overhead; a dragon strafes the rooftops with Napalm-like fire.

See? Like I said. Old village. Lots and lotsof new houses.

A near-by Viking shouts his command. "**FIRE!**"

In response, the fire brigade charges through the plaza-four teenagers, tugging a large wooden cask on wheels. From it, they fill buckets of water to douse the flames. One among them is a cute, energetic Viking girl. I can't help but lean out of the stall to watch her.

Oh, the other four are Fishlegs, Snotlout. The twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut. And...

Astrid.

Even when I just _think_ her name, it sounds dreamy.

An explosion erupts behind her, although it seems to be in slow-motion (as does Astrid) framing her in a ball of fire. The others join her, looking awesome and heroic.

Their job is _so_ much cooler.I try to join them as they pass, but I am instead hooked by Gobber and hoisted back inside.

"Ah, come on. Let me out, please. I_ need _to make my mark." I plead.

"Oh, you've made plenty of marks. All in the wrong places." He retorts, laughing.

"_Please_, two minutes. I'll kill a dragon. My life will get infinitely better. I might even get a date!"

"You can't lift a hammer. You can't swing an axe..." Gobber grabs a bola (which are iron balls connected by rope), "... you can't even throw one of these.

A Viking runs by and nabs it out of Gobber's hand, hurling it at a dive-bombing Gronkle. The bola binds its legs, sending it into a heavy crash.

I was ready with my answer. "Okay fine, but..." I rush to the back corner of the stall and present bizarre, wheel barrow-like contraption, "... this will throw it for me."

I open the hinged lid of the device. An arm springs up, equipped with twin bows. They prematurely launch a bola, narrowly missing Gobber... and taking out a Viking at the counter.

"Arggh!" The Viking growls.

"See, now this right here is what I'm talking about." Gobber sighs and sounds slightly irritated as he talks to me.

"Mild calibration issue." I try to use as an excuse.

"Hiccup. If you ever want to get out there to fight dragons, you need to stop all..." He gestures in my general direction. "... This." He finishes.

"But... you just pointed to all of me." I say, astonished.

"Yes! That's it! Stop being all of you." He exclaims

"Ohhhhh…" I let the word drawl on, in as much of a threatening way as I can muster.

"Ohhhhh, yes." Gobber mimics.

"You, sir," I say in a warning-like tone. "Are playing a dangerous game. Keeping this much, raw_...Vikingness_ contained!" Gobber looks bored at my speech. "There will be consequences!"

Gobber tosses me a sword.

"I'll take my chances. Sword. Sharpen. Now." He says in a monotone. I take it begrudgingly and lob it onto the grinding wheel. I stew... Whilst fantasizing...

One day I'll get out there. Because killing a dragon is everything around here.

I look out of the window, my gaze falling upon the lower plains of the land where Nadders land, gathering like seagulls around a seemingly vacant house.

A Nadder head is sure to get me at least _noticed_.

Elsewhere, hippo-like Gronckles pick drying racks clean of fish and fly off like loaded pelicans.

Gronckles are tough. Taking down one of those would definitely get me a girlfriend.

A stealthy, snake-like dragon head peeks over a rooftop, breathing gas into a chimney.

A Zippelback? Exotic, exciting. Two heads, twice the status.

A second head pokes through the door and lights it.

**KABLAM!**

The two heads fly through the explosion, their necks zipping together to reveal a single body. It flies past Stoick as he climbs to the top of a catapult

I hear the catapult operator shout off in the distance.** "****Fire!**"

Boulders are catapulted at the corralling Nadders... Just as a huge red dragon whips past, spraying the base of the catapult with sticky fire.

And then there's the Monstrous Nightmare. Only the _best_ Vikings go after those. They have this nasty habit of setting themselves on fire. It emerges from the flames, climbing the catapult with a leering, toothy grin.

"Reload! I'll take care of this." Stoick shouts amongst the chaos. He chucks a sword to a near-by warrior, who is being taken on by a Scotsman.

Stoick takes on the Nightmare, face to hammer.

Suddenly, a loud ballistic moaning streak overhead. The catapult crew ducks.

I look up from work, reacting to the sound.

… But the ultimate prize is the dragon no one has ever seen. We call it the-

"Night Fury! Get down!" A warrior shouts above the noise.

Vikings everywhere take shelter. The moaning sound builds up and goes higher in octaves.

The Monstrous Nightmare suddenly stops fighting and takes. Stoick looks skyward.

"**JUMP!**" He screams.

**KABOOM! **

The Catapult explodes as though hit by an artillery shell... sending Stoick and the crew leaping for their lives.

This thing _never_ steals food, _never_ shows itself, and...

The sound recedes, leaving the crippled catapult in flames.

..._**never **_misses.

No one has ever killed a Night Fury. That's why I'm going to be the _first_.

All that is happening out there whilst I am stuck in this stall.

Gobber trades his hammer for an axe.

"Man the fort, Hiccup, they need me out there!" Gobber pauses. Turns with a threatening glare. "Stay… Put… Uh… There. You know what I mean."

Gobber charges into the fray, hollering like a maniac.

A smirk crosses my face.


	2. The Announcement

**A/N: I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: *Annoyed Tone* I do not own Disney-Pixar's _'Brave'_. Nor do I own Dreamworks _'How To Train Your Dragon'_. Also, I do not own the Stories picture. It belongs to '_Pinkie-Perfect_' on deviantART. Happy now? Good! :P **

**Read, Enjoy, Review and Favourite... _Pwease?_**

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_**Hiccup's P.O.V**_

Within moments I am like-

**WHAM!**

I push my wheeled contraption through a wall of clustered Vikings and Scotsmen. I weave through the on-going mayhem, as fast as my legs can carry me.

A random Viking that I can't identify shouts after me."Hiccup, where are you going?!"

Another shouts, "Come back here!"

"I know. Be right back!" I shout back, after them.

On the plain below, the Nadders have cornered the house-full of sheep. They close in, ready to spring upon them. Stoick suddenly appears, hurling fishing nets over them. The Nadders are caught. Stoick and his men rush in. A Nadder blasts a hole through its net. Stoick leaps onto it, his thick arms around its head, forcing its jaws shut.

"Mind yourselves! The devils still have some juice in them." He bellows the order.

Whereas, on the plain above I have reached a cliff overlooking the smoking catapult and drop the handles to the ground. I crank several levers, unfolding and then cocking the bowed arms of my contraption. I drop a bola onto a chamber and then pivot the weapon on a gimbal head toward the dark sky. I listen, with my eye pressed to the scope, hand poised on trigger. I hear the Night Fury approaching... and turn my aim to the defence tower. It closes in for the final strike, completely camouflaged in the night.

"Come on. Give me something to shoot at, give me something to shoot at." I mumble to myself, my anticipation mixing with excitement and nerves.

**KABLAM! **

The tower topples. The blast of fire illuminates the dragon for a split second. I take this as my chance to pull the trigger.

**KERTHUNK! **

The flexed arms snap forward, springing the weapon off the ground. The bola disappears into the sky, followed by a loud '_**WHACK!**_' and a deafening screech.

I went from surprised to elate within the second and exclaimed, cheerfully. "Oh I hit it! Yes, I hit it! Did anybody see that?" I feel like doing a happy dance… But Astrid could show up, so…

My victory is one that is short-lived. A Monstrous Nightmare appears, slithering up over the lip of the cliff.

I gulp. "Except for you."

And like the manly and fearsome Viking I am, I run… Hollering like a little girl who just saw a dragon for the first time.

_**Meanwhile… (Third Person P.O.V)**_

Stoick, who is holding down the netted Nadders hears a familiar holler and looks up to see... Hiccup running through the Plaza, screaming, with the Monstrous Nightmare fast on his heels.

Alarmed, Stoick abandons the Nadders and runs off.

He quickly turns to his men, but his gaze falls on the Nadders behind them. "Do **NOT **let them escape!" and began his run to the Plaza.

Vikings scatter as Hiccup dodges a near fatal blast. The Nightmare's sticky, Napalm-like fire splashes up onto buildings, setting them alight. Hiccup ducks behind the last standing brazier-the only shelter available. The Nightmare blasts it, spraying fire all him. Hiccup peers around the smouldering post. No sign of the Nightmare. He turns back to find it leering at him, blocking his escape. It takes a deep breath. Hiccup is finished.

Suddenly, Stoick leaps between them, tackling the Nightmare to the ground. They tumble and wrestle, resuming their earlier fight. The Nightmare tries to toast him, but only coughs up smoke.

"You're all out." Stoick sneers at the creature and goes to work. He smashes the Nightmare repeatedly in the face, driving it. It takes to the air and disappears. Winded, Stoick turns to Hiccup.

_**Hiccup's P.O.V**_

Oh, and there's one more thing you need to know...

The burnt brazier pole decides that now is the perfect time to go and collapse, sending the massive iron crashing. It bounces down the hill, destroying as it and scattering the Vikings who were holding down the netted Nadders. The freed dragons escape... with several sheep in tow.

Yep. It's official. I. Am. _Dead_.

I turn to Stoick. "... Sorry… Dad"

Above in the night sky, the escaped Nadders fly past with sheep in their clutches. The raid is over. The dragons have clearly won. The murmuring crowd eyes Stoick, awaiting his response.

"Okay, but I hit a Night Fury." I say, sheepishly.

"Whoa!" I exclaim as my Dad grabs me by the back scruff of my collar and hauls me away, fuming with embarrassment.

"It's not like the last few times, Dad. I mean I really actually hit it. You guys were busy and I had a very clear shot. It went down, just by Raven Point. Let's get a search out there, before it-"

"-STOP! Just...stop." My Dad cuts me off. He releases me. Everyone goes silent, staring expectantly. "Every time you step outside, disaster follows. Can you not see I have bigger problems? Winter's almost here and I have an entire village to feed!" His voice has grown from a stern tone to a near shout with each sentence.

I look around. All eyes are upon me.

"Between you and me, the village could do with a little less feeding, don't ya think?" I try to reason in a not-as-quiet-as-intended grumble.

A few rotund Vikings stir self-consciously. I gulp.

"This isn't a joke, Hiccup!" my father exclaims, obvious exasperated. "Why can't you follow the simplest orders?"

My retort rolls off of my tongue without my able to stop it. "I can't stop myself. I see a dragon and I have to just... kill it, you know? It's who I am, Dad." Inwardly, I can't help but cringe; I know what others are thinking as I say this.

My father sighs. "You are many things, Hiccup. But a killer is not one of them." I look around to see many nods of agreement.

"Get back to the house." He tells me, simply. He talks to me as if I was another soldier-in-training. _Not_ his son; anything _but_ this son. He turns his attention to Gobber." Make sure he gets there. I have _his_ mess to clean up." He lumbers off in the opposite direction. Gobber leads me through the walk of shame. We pass the teen fire brigade as they snicker.

"Quite the performance." Tuffnut informs me, stifling a snicker.

"I've never seen anyone mess up that badly. That helped!" Snotlout piles on.

"Thank you, thank you. I was trying, so..." I avoid Astrid's glare and head up toward a large house, standing prominently on the hill above the others.

"I really did hit one." I say, trying my best to convince Gobber. I just want _one_ person to believe me!

"Sure, Hiccup." He says in a dismissive tone.

"He never listens." I groan, trying to make my case to him as best as I can.

"Well, it runs in the family." Can't argue with that, really.

"And when he does, it's always with this... disappointed scowl. Like someone skimped on the meat in his sandwich." I begin mimicking my father's thick Vicking accent. "Excuse me, barmaid. I'm afraid you brought me the wrong offspring. I an extra-large boy with arms. Extra guts and glory on the side. _This_ here. _This_ is a talking fish bone."

"You're thinking about this all wrong." Gobber starts off. "It's not so much what you look like. It's what's inside that he can't stand."

_Gee, Thanks! I feel __**so**__ much better! _I think in my head, but I bite my tongue.

"Thank you, for summing that up." I say, sarcasm obvious in my tone. What? There is only so much tongue I am able to bite.

We finally reach the doorway.

"Look, the point is, stop trying so hard to be something you're not." Gobber appears to be attempting to make his voice seem comforting, but I can hear the underlining warning tone.

I just sigh heavily.

"I just want to be one of you guys." I say, downfallen.

Gobber eyes me sympathetically. I hate it. So, I turn and open a run through the front door…

… And straight out the back door.

I hurry off into the woods, with a determined attitude.

_**In the Great Hall-it is now morning. (Third Person P.O.V)**_

A noisy din of protesting voices-a mixture of the locals' accents and strong Scottish- fills the room and leads to... Stoick, glowering in the firelight. Surrounded by his men.

"We can't keep fighting like this with the threat of the dragons shadowing us!" Stoick shouts, gaining everyone's attention. "Either we finish them or they'll finish us! It's the only way we'll be rid of them! If we find them and destroy it, the dragons _will_ leave. They'll find another home! _Away _from us! Are we in agreement?!" He shouts the ending of his speech, as both civilisations begin to argue once again on the attack methods. Once again they go silent.

He sinks his blade into a large nautical map, spread out on the table... the blade pierces the middle of an uncharted corner, swirling with painted sea monsters and dragons.

"One more search. Before the ice sets in." He says decidedly.

A Scottish woman speaks up. "We have heard the legends and tales. Those ships never come back."

Stoick nods, taking this into account as a good point. "We're Vikings. It's an occupational hazard. Now who's with me?!" Stoick throws up his fist. No one follows. The crowd shifts into restless silence. Head scratches. Eyes averted.

One Viking says, in a feeble tone. "Today's not good for me"

Another says, equally feeble. "I've got'ta do my axe returns."

Stoick groans, knowing the one thing to gain recruits. "Alright. Those who stay will look after Hiccup." All-of-a-sudden, hands jut into the air, volunteers galore, even the Scots, they saw what Hiccup had done and really didn't want to find out what more he could do. Enthusiastic murmurs of prep and packing fill the room.

"To the ships!" Phlegma the Fierce exclaims.

"I'm with you Stoick!" Spitelout joins in.

"That's more like it." Stoick says in a dry voice.

The Vikings rush for the door, but stop when a Scot, possibly in his early-twenties, shouts: "HEY!" which gains everyone's attention. He clears his throat and clambers up on to a close-by table. "How do we Scots know we can trust ye Vikings? How can we help ye without knowin' if ye are gon'na kill us whilst our backs are turned?" There were murmurs of agreement from all the other Scots.

"Hey!" Spitelout exclaimed, getting defensive. "How can _we _trust _you_?! You could do _all _of that to _us_!"

And so began another argument that went on for a few minutes. Then Stoick saw weapons being drawn and took charge, quickly.

"_**HALT!**_" He bellowed. "There shall be **no **bloodshed caused by one man to another! Understand?! We have enough problems with dragons!" He sighed, running a hand through his scruffy hair. "We shall call a truce until the dragon matter is resolved."

"But who knows how long it shall take to get the message to Scotland!" A fellow Viking argued.

Then they heard loud footsteps coming closer to the door. Then it swung open, to reveal a very burly dark-haired man in his early-thirties in a kilt of different greens and armour. He was at least _near_ six foot, and gasping for breath. When he did, he quickly regained composure. He coughed, clearing his throat.

"I come with a message from King Fergus and Queen Elinor." He announced with his accent only _just_ translatable to the Vikings. Pulling a scroll out of… Uh… _Somewhere _from inside his kilt and unrolled it. "The Royals of Scotland, Queen Elinor and King Fergus, shall be arriving later towards evening to discuss a temporary truce after hearing of the extra dangers from the dragon-of which they did not prepare for. They shall also be bringing their four children. Three five-almost six-year old triplets and one fourteen year-old. Upon arrival, the Queen has requested sleeping arrangements to be pre-arrange, everything else she feels to be required shall be sorted out after she sees the resources…" He looked around the room and then turned towards Stoick. "I seriously would _not _argue with the lady, Chief. It shall have terrifying consequences." He warned.

Stoick thought this over. "That seems…" He appeared to be searching for a word to describe the Queens requests, Gobber whispered something into is ear. "Ah, yes! That seems… _reasonable _enough." He thought a bit more. "Tell them, upon their arrival, that they shall be staying at my house… The King, Queen and the triplets may stay in my guest room. There are two beds. One for the couple and the other can go to the triplets-both are roomy enough and there shall be no problems when it comes to all fitting in each bed. The fourteen year-old may share with my fourteen year-olds room." He appeared to think his arrangements through in his head and then nodded when he found them suitable.

He stood up and looked over the crowd. "Now, begin stocking and prepping the ships, so we may be ready as soon as a temporary peace-treaty arrangement is met to set off!"

The Vikings and Scots rush for the door, leaving Gobber and Stoick. Gobber gulps back the contents of his tankard attachment and scrapes back the bench.

"I'll go pack me undies

"No," Stoick stated. "I need you to stay and train some new recruits."

"Oh, _perfect_." Gobber begins with sarcasm evident in his voice. "And while I'm busy, Hiccup can cover the stall. Molten steel, razor sharp blades, lots of time to himself...what could possibly go wrong?" Stoick sinks onto the bench beside Gobber as he says this, his brow burdened.

"What am I going to do with him, Gobber?" Stoick asks.

"Put him in training with the others." Said Gobber, trying to throw a bone to Hiccup and persuade Stoick without him actually realising it.

"No, I'm serious." Stoick replies to the statement.

"So am I." Gobber tries to make his but is only met with Stoick turning to him, glaring.

"He'd be killed before you let the first dragon out of its cage." Stoick retorts, glare still firmly in place.

"Oh, you don't know that." Gobber argues, although he is secretly agreeing with the burly tribe Chief.

"I do know that, actually." Stoick stated his tone matter-of-factly.

"No, you don't." Gobber argued

"No, actually I do."

"No you don't!"

"Listen! You know what he's like. From the time he could crawl he's been...different. He doesn't listen! Has the attention span of a. I-I… I take him fishing and he hunting for... for trolls." Stoick voice was dishevelled- upset, even.

"Hey! Trolls exist! They steal your socks." Gobber went on the defensive. "… But only ever the left ones! What's with that?" he said, wondering.

"When I was a boy..." Stoick began…

"Oh here we go." Gobber grumbled quiet enough as to not be heard.

"My father told me to bang my head against a rock and I did it. I thought it was crazy, but I didn't question him. And you know what happened?" Stoick explained.

"… You got a headache?" Gobber inquired.

"That rock split in two. It taught me what a Viking could do, Gobber! He could crush mountains, level, and tame seas! Even as a boy, I knew what I was, what I had to become.

There was a long silence "… Hiccup is not that boy." He sounded downfallen.

Gobber offered some wisdom to the man. "You can't stop him, Stoick. You can only prepare him."

He sighed loudly before continuing. "Look, I _know_ it seems hopeless. But the truth is you won't always be around to protect him. He's going to get out there again. He's probably out there now."

He keeps his eyes fixed on Stoick, and watches as his words hit their mark.


	3. The Meeting Oh Boy And Girl!

**A/N: I hope you enjoy this chapter! This is where my original ideas can finally be released, so I am _very_ excited!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own '_How To Train Your Dragon_'. Nor do I own '_Brave_'. I also, I do not own the Storys picture. It belongs to '_Pinkie-Perfect_' on deviantART.**

**Read, Enjoy, Review and Favourite... _Pwetty pwease with Mericcup on top? :3_**

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_**Hiccup's P.O.V**_

I look down at my open notebook, which is easily readable now, since it has become late morning now, and take a look at my drawn map of the island, covered in X's. I look up from it and peek over a gorge, expectantly. I see absolutely nothing.

I add another 'X' to the page, then scratched my pencil over the whole map in frustration. I snap the book closed pocket it.

"Uggh, the gods hate me." I groan. "_Some_ people lose their knife or their mug. No, not _me_. I manage to lose an _entire_ _dragon_."

I my annoyance, I whack a low-hanging branch. Only to have it snap right back at me, hitting me in the face and leaving a stinging sensation on it. I look up to see a snapped tree. My eyes follow it to a long trench of up-turned earth. I follow it to a downed, black dragon, its body and tail entangled in a bola. It appears dead. I approach it, beaming.

"Oh wow. I did it. I did it." I say, obviously shocked. "This fixes everything!" I suddenly feel elated. "Yes!" I exclaim as I a victory pose, planting my foot on the fallen Night Fury.

"I have brought down this mighty beast!" I laugh, quite giddy, which is understandable.

The Night Fury suddenly shifts.

"Whoa!" I exclaim in surprise. I spring back, terrified. I turn my blade on it.

Rattled, I creep along the length of the weak, wounded dragon, dagger poised to strike. As I reach the head, I find the Night Fury staring right at me. I try my utmost best to look away, but I am drawn back to its unnerving, unflinching stare. With the dragon safely tangled in the ropes, I quickly jab with my dagger, puffing myself up with, what I know is, false bravado, but the dragon might not.

"I-I'm going to kill you, Dragon. I'm go-gonna cut out your heart and take it to my father. I'm a Viking." _I _can't believe I am saying all of these, but at least my confidence towards the situation is slowly growing. "I am a VIKING!" I shout at the top of my lungs

I raise the dagger, determined to prove my worth as a Viking. The dragon's laboured breathing breaks my clenched concentration. I open an eye, uncertainty leaking through. The dragon holds the stare. Something is exchanged between the gaze.

Finally, the Night Fury closes its eye and lowers its head, resigned to its fate.

I try my hardest to find enough guts to go through with it, holding the dagger aloft… Inwardly I am fighting violently with myself...

Until finally lowering it with a frustrated sigh. I looked over the dragon's chaffed rope wounds. I felt my jaw begin to go slack and my eyes widen. "I… _I_ did this." I muttered to myself, guilt and shame filling me up.

I turned to leave. But I pause and glance back at the dragon, it's chest heaving.

I grumble. Then check over my shoulder to ensure that no one is watching... then I hurry back to cut the ropes.

The Night Fury's eye shoots open. With the dragon watching my every single move, I hurriedly saw through the bola ropes. As the last rope falls free, the Night Fury suddenly pounces at me! In a blur, the dragon is upon him, pinning me down, growling and my neck. Looking like it's about to kill him. I have become paralyzed. The dragon's breath ruffles my hair with its snout. I open my eyes slowly to find the Night Fury's nightmare-inducing stare boring into mine. The exchange is intense.

The dragon draws a deep breath, as though it's about to torch me into a cinder, then lets out an ear-piercing scream instead. It turns and takes flight, flapping violently through the canopy of trees. It bashes against a nearby mountain side, recovers, and drops out of view some distance away.

Winded, I struggle to my feet, force myself to try and stagger a few steps, collapse to my knees, and then notice my eyesight begin to get blotchy...

And then, in all my strong…_Viking-ness_, I faint.

* * *

After regaining consciousness and making my way back to the village, I enter my house to see my father, seated on a thick slice of tree-trunk. He is slouched over the fire-pit, stirring the coals with his axe. Embers waft around his beard.

I attempt to sneak past, up the stairs and to my room. My Dad none-the-wiser, when...

"Hiccup," my father speaks up.

I wince and gulp, "Dad. Uh..."

My Dad stands up from the trunk, and takes a deep breath.

"I, uh... I have to talk to you, Dad." I begin, trying to muster up the courage to break the news to my father.

"I need to speak with you too, son."

My father and I cough and straighten up at the same moment.

"I've decided… I don't want -" I begin to say.

"I think it's time you learn-" my father says also at the same time.

"-To fight dragons." We both finish, then are engulfed by an awkward silence.

"What?" My father says, utterly baffled.

"What?" I say, even more-so baffled.

"You go first…" My father urges me.

"No… _You_ go first." I say, how my father doesn't suspect anything is beyond me.

"Alright, then. You get your wish. Dragon training. You start in the morning." My Dad says as if unsure of his own decision.

_Please change your mind, please! _ I think frantically.

_Oh no! Think Hiccup-think! _I being babbling-stringing random words together to try and convince him otherwise. "Oh man, I should've gone first. Uh, I was thinking, you know we have a surplus of dragon-fighting Vikings, but do we have enough bread-making Vikings or-or small home repair Vikings-"

"-You'll need this, son." My father cuts me off mid-sentence. My father goes to hand me his axe. Thankfully, I avoid taking it.

"I**-**I don't want to fight dragons." I say weakly.

"Come on. Yes, you do." My Dad replies not believing me, whilst chuckling.

"Rephrase. Dad I can't kill dragons." I try to explain, without sound pathetic.

"But you _will_ kill dragons." My father stays, stubborn as usual, without even knowing.

"_Nooo_, I'm really very extra sure that I _won't_." I argue, weakly.

"It's time Hiccup."

"Can you not hear me?" I am beginning to sound whiny, but I don't care.

Apparently neither does my father.

"This is serious son!" He warns me, his voice rising. He forces the axe into my hands. Its weight drags me down. I look up to see him under-lit with firelight.

"When you carry this axe... "He looks at me seriously. "You carry all of us with you. Which means you walk like us. You talk like us. You think like us. No more of..."

He gestured to nowhere specific on my body. "... This." He coughed awkwardly.

"You just gestured to all of me." I state, exasperated.

"Deal?" My father appears to be asking but I know I am not being provided a choice.

"This conversation is feeling very one-sided." I point out.

"**DEAL?!**" He says once more, voice raising.

I steal a glance at the axe in his hands, and stifle a loud gulp (how many is that now?). It's a no-win argument.

"Deal." I sigh, resigning myself to my fate…

_Does that ring any bells?_ My conscious tells me.

He seems satisfied by my agreement and walks over to a chest, opens it, and pulls out two bed pillows and blanket. He walks back over to me and passes them to me.

"Here,"he informed me as I took the bed necessities. "Go and place these on the second that has been moved into your room-tidy up a bit, too, would ya?" I must have looked as baffled as anyone could be at this point.

"Who in Thor's name is coming here?" I ask.

"Oh, that's right, no-one told you yet… No-one could find you." He glares at me for a second. "Anyway, now on to the topic at hand! Because of the dragons becoming too much both the Scottish and us Vikings, a temporary truce is to be made between us two so we may defeat the dragons!" My Dad announced victoriously. I gave him a look that urged him to continue and get to the point. "Well, the truce must be agreed on by me-as the Chief-and the King and Queen of Scotland."

Okay, numbers weren't always where my best talents lay but even _I_ knew that two people could just use the guest room!

"Anyhow, King Fergus and Queen Elinor have four children. The youngest three triplets-who are five-shall be able to share the second bed in the guest room with their parents. But the fourteen year-old shall have to share with you, okay?" He explained.

I thought this over, didn't seem too bad, really. "Okay then, I-even though I am not even being given a choice-will share wi-" I stopped myself. "WAIT!" I exclaim, catching my father off guard. "What if this fourteen year-old is a… _Girl_?!" I feel my cheeks beginning to burn red now and my father laughs at me.

"Oh Hiccup! You _do _have a point I guess, but if it _was_ a girl, I would have been informed of that! So don't worry and be back down soon, okay? We must be ready to greet them as soon as they come in the house, understand?"

"Yes, Dad… You got it" I run up the stairs and into my room, which now has any room to breathe with the added bed!

The second bed looks suspiciously bigger than mine; I remember to take note of that.

As I arrange the bed, I hear a horn being blown in the distance and voices shouting '_THEY'RE HERE!_' That must be the Royals.

I wonder what their eldest kid is like…

_**Meanwhile… At The Docks… (Third Person P.O.V)**_

"_THEY'RE HERE!_" A mixture of Vikings and Scots shouted from outside and regal and important-looking ship that had docked in at the docks of Berk.

People cleared the way as a plank lowered itself from the ship's deck and onto the ground at a walkable angle. An announcer walked out, head held high, and stepped to the left side of the plank and cleared his throat to gain everyone's attention.

"Yer are now tae be introduced tae…" He practically shouted, with an easy-to-understand and clear accent, thankfully. "King Fergus of Scotland!" A massive, burly figure stood at the top of the plank and made its way down and then everyone saw his appearance: He was a very muscular, very…_Stocky_, fair skin, curly red hair, thick eyebrows, moustache and beard, blue eyes and a peg leg.

He wore a set of brown armour, along with a long green grey and red tartan robe, a silver helmet, large brown belt, brown phanny pack and a bear cape to complete his look.

He looked the picture of authority, until he cracked a goofy grin and shouted, "Awrite, my fellow Scot and ye Vikings!" This was followed by a loud laugh from him and a loud cheer from the Scots.

The announcer silenced the crowd and continued. "The young triplet princes, Hubbert, Harris and Hamish!" Three sets of childish laughter are heard and the small '_thumping_' of three pairs of feet.

"RUN!" They all shout as they run down the plank, and almost all trip over, but Fergus swoops his arms forward and catches them.

They all look exactly alike; with their fair skin with pink undertones, rosy cheeks, short, curly red hair, blue eyes and freckles.

Heck! They were even wearing the _exact same_ outfits! Of which were long green red and grey tartan robes, large belts and brown boots. The only thing that seperated them was that the badge that held their tartan robes together, although the badges all had the outline of a child bear on it, they were different colours: Hamish's was blue, Harris's was white and Hubbert's was fiery red.

They all giggled and smiled as their father caught them, but both of those things had a mischievous air about them.

"And _Now_! Queen Elinor and Princess Merida shall be announced tae-gether!" He looked towards the ship expectantly and a bit nervous at the same time. Everyone turned towards the boarding plant, too, silent enough to hear…

"_Mum_!" A girl's voice whined. "They're _Vikings_! I really don't they will _actually_ care if my hair isn't all neat and tucked away!"

"_Merida_! I do not care, just put the thing on! Appearances are still everything!" An elder woman's argued back.

"But… But _Mum!_" This whine was followed by a grunt of protest. "_I. Don't. Want. To. Put. It. On!_"

"_Merida!_" The woman shout was followed by another grunt from her part. "_Would. You. Just. Put. It. On?!_"

'RIP!' the sound of tearing fabric and a cry of victory from the young girl resonated from inside the ship and through the-by now-quiet crowd.

The announcer and the King coughed and shifted uncomfortably, whereas the triplets were shamelessly laughing. The announcer cleared his throat and announced again, "Queen Elinor and Princess Merida!"

Two feminine figures could be spotted as they made their way down the boarding plank. When the sunlight hit them fully, they could tell the females features a lot better now.

The elder woman's-Queen Elinor-features were very distinguished. She had very fair skin, extremely long dark brown hair with a grey streak, which was kept in an elegant pony tail that draped over her right shoulder with golden-coloured ribbon being wrapped and tied around its length, and wise yet warm brown eyes.

She wore an elegant green velvet dress, with a pure golden rings connecting to make a belt (the main one on her stomach bigger than the rest and leaving another line of five golden rings to hang down from it). She also wore a gold tiara with green emerald in the middle of it. She wore no jewellery, either. "Greetings, I am Queen Elinor" They woman announced, which got a respectful response from the Scottish and a few Vikings.

The younger girl couldn't look any different. Although she had a slender figure, and fair skin, she also had light but very noticeable freckles, blue eyes and long, unruly curly fiery-red hair that looked as if they couldn't ever be tamed, along with sort of rounded face, and maroon-coloured thin lips. She was wearing a baby blue, Celtic dress, which ended at her ankles) had golden-coloured ribbon stitched into the neckline, from the middle of her shin to the hemline of the dress. She had a light turquoise silk belt which fixed together in a golden ring and left two lines of the fabric hanging down. Along with this she a ruby necklace that caught the light in every direction.

Along with those differences, the Queen held a strong and slightly annoyed expression, whereas the princess was grinning like a crazy person, and looked like she was stifling a giggle. One of the triplets ran over to her and she picked him up, allowing her laugh to slip her lips as she did so. She waved to the crowd. "Awrite people, I am Princes Merida!" A cheer erupted from the Scottish. "Nice tae met ye!" As she said this, seven men came down the plank, each carrying two travel cases. They stood next to the Royals as Gobber stepped forward.

"Greetings to Berk!" He exclaimed and his fellow Vikings joined in until his got them to silence. "I am Gobber and I shall be taking you to the main house to meet the Chief and get straight to business, so let's get going!" He did a double-take. "Where… Where are the triplets?"

Merida pursed he lips. "Those wee little devils!" she grumbled loud enough to still be heard, though, sighed. "Where do you keep anything that contains sugar?"

"The Grand Hall, why?" Gobber answered, confused.

"The door unlocked?" Merida continued.

"Yes… Why, again?" Gobber asked, not catching on.

"Darn it!" Merida almost took off running but came back for her travel case. "I'll… I would like take this… Myself, thank you." Then she took off.

"Fast on her legs, that one" Fergus said proudly. "Strong, too!" He added, with a jolly laugh.

"We-well… The Chiefs' house is in that direction, so… Let's get going"

* * *

"Aaaand... Here we are!" Gobber announced cheerfully.

They had found Merida dragging two of the triplets (Harris amd Harish) out of the Grand Hall by and the last one (Hubbert) caught through the crook of her arm, but she couldn't stop them stuffing about five cupcakes each in their mouths.

"Well this is... Very... _Unique_" Enilor examined.

"Oh hush, Elinor, it's great!" Fergus argued quietly. "It really is great." He told Gobber, who just smiled and knocked on the door.

They wait about seven seconds for it to open and when it did, it was opened to show a big, extremely burly man in a Viking helmet with a long and messy dark brown-red beard which was tied into sections at the ends. He wore a dark green tunic and brown trousers underneath with leather boots. He also wore a brown leather belt with silver studs, and the belt had the face of a dragon molded into it. On his wrists he wore a number od leather straps with silver spike and silver metal shoulder pads that held up his jagged and scruffy bear cape.

"Welcome to Berk, King Fergus, Queen Elinor." He nodded towards the man and wife. "And these three must be Harris, Hamish and Hubbert, am I correct?" Elinor and Fergus nodded happily. "Now... Where is the eldest?" He asked.

"Lagging behind, I'm afraid. You live right next the woods, what more can I say? Nature-lover, through and through, that one" Fergus laughed.

"Ah well, tell the eldest that" He raised his voice so Merida, who was still halfway up the hill, admiring the possiblities of adventure that could be made in the forest next to her, could hear, and was now paying attention. "Their room is up the stairs and through the first door they see! Their bed is one on the right!" Merida burned the instructions into her mind to remember.

"Anyways." Stoick continued, lowering his voice to a normal tone. "Yours and the triplets room is the guest room. Just go up the stairs and it's the first door on your left, good?"

"Just perfect!" The Queen agreed and Stoick went back inside. "Servants, if you could please take the things to the correct rooms, only the small one is Merida's, she didn't bring too much" the Queen forced herself not to judge her daughters decisions too badly. "Speaking of which may one of ye wait for her after yer duties are complete? The rest may go straight back to the ship and relax immediately" one nodded and Elinor smiled at him. "Thank you David".

"Merida! Hurry up!" Fergus some-what shouted to his daughter.

"Huh, oh! Comin' Dad!" She replied.

"Good! Wee rascals, all four of them, they are!"

_**Meanwhile... Inside the house, at the same time...**_

"Hiccup, the Royals are here!" Stoick shouted up to his son.

"What? Oh! Okay!" He shouted back down.

"Is the bed made?" Stoick asked.

"Yup!"

"Is the room clean?" Stoick asked, sternly.

"Uh... _Depends_... What would you say a Royals definition of _clean_?" Hiccup replied, meekly.

"Sort it out. Now." Stoick warned.

"You got it!" Hiccup practically squeaked, making Stoick sigh and begin to question his decision for putting Hiccup in Dragon Training even more-so.

Then the door opened and the four Royals walked in, the triplets ran straight to the fire to warm up.

"Hmm... It must be getting closer to night, and Berk gets a fantastic view of the sunset. Follow me to the back garden and I shall show you..." Stoick offered. "Your subjects know were to take your things?" Stoick asked.

"Yes, they do, don't worry" Fergus and Elinor assured him as they followed him out into the backyard.

The servants walked up the stairs after the back door had closed.

_**Merida's P.O.V**_

I grinned like a fool as I made it to the house. I pumped my fist up in the air... Mentally, of course, I was still carrying my travel case in my hand. "Yes! I missed the greeting!" I whispered victoriously to myself and laughed lightly.

I was about to knock on the door when it opened to show a servant of my family, David McDonald.

"Oh! Princess Merida, I have put yer possesions in front of the door tae your temporary room, I didn't wan' tae accidentally mess anything up. I hope ye don't mind". He explained as I nodded in understanding.

"Nah, I don't. I remember where my room is, so don't worry about that, either." I told him as I entered the house and the other servants emptied the house.

"Would ye like any he-" he began.

I cut him off, hurriedly. "No!" I squeak. "N-no, I'm good, David! Y-ye just go back to the ship and relax, ye deserve it!"

He gives me a strange look, and I kind of deserve it. "Oh... 'Kay, Merida. Have a nice night." He smiles at me and shuts the door behind him.

I went up the stairs as fast as could, only stopping to put my main travel case down as place my smaller one on top of it. When I picked them up (which took a great deal of strength) I realised I couldn't open the door so I kicked it lightly as a makeshift handless knock.

As soon as I heard it open I rushed in and turned to the right and placed my stuff on my bed and sighed in utter relief. I turned around to see my room-mate hadn't. _Huh_, I thought, _girls wear pants here, that's perfect!_

"H-Hi?" She said, turning around fully. "Nice to meet yo-ooooh!"

"_What the-_" I begin shouting

My... _Room-mate_ looks up and shouts "_OH! You gods really **do** hate me! **Don't** you_"

We both gulp, loudly.

Then we stare at each other, mouths open.

"Yo-you're... You a..."

"I am _NOT_ going ta-tae share a _room_ with a..." I begin, gobsmacked.

_**Meanwhile... Outside, in the back garden (Third Person P.O.V)**_

The three adults stood in a comfortable silence whilst watching the calming sunset.

But calm isn't something parents are allowed to experience for too long. At. All.

Because, all-of-a-sudden...

"**_A..._** **_YOU ARE A..._**" A young boys voice shouted.

"...Hiccup...?" Stoick said, confused.

"You named your daughter '_Hiccup_'?" Elinor noted, just as puzzled.

"_Daughter?!_ Oh no! Hiccup..." Stoick began, but was cut off by a young girls' voice.

"_**THERE IS NO WAY I AM SHARING A ROOM WITH A... A...**_"

"_Merida...?_" Fergus and Elinor trailed off...

"You named your son... '_Merida_'...?" Stoick said, unable to believe they named their son such a... _feminine_ name... And why he had such a feminine voice...

"What?!" Fergus exclaimed. "No, no! Merida isn't a..."

Then the shouts from earlier caught up with them and their eyes widened in shock.

"Oh no..." The three began, eyes widening. "Oh no!" They exclaimed.

"_**... A GIRL?!**_" The they now identified as Hiccup shouted.

"_**A BLOODY BOY!**_" Merida screamed.

"Oooh... Nooo..." The three trailed off

Now the only sound that could be heard were they triplets' incessant and extremely loud laughing at the situation.


	4. The New Recruits

**A/N: I would just like to point out The reason I didn't make Elinor freak out is because, in front of these new people, she will have to keep her composure even more than usual to show that she is worthy of her posistion. Plus, she knows that Merida isn't weak and can defend herself... Plus, let's face it, Stoick would have informed her that Hiccup ain't much to fear and Merida could definitely do him some damage if he tried anything, so altogether it seemed kinda in character... that does not mean she isn't wary of Hiccup haha ;)**

* * *

_**Hiccup's P.O.V**_

"What in Thors' name?" I shout. "I was told I was sharing with a boy! You're a… _Girl!_" My face is now in my hands.

"How do ye think _I _feel? I was told I was sharing with another girl… Although…" She began snickering, which then turned into a progressing laugh. "With… With thae way-way ye… Ye… _Squealed!_" She snorted. "I s'pose I can see thae… The similarities!" She clutched her stomach as she laughed more.

My face fell. "Gee, thanks." I rolled my eyes. "You're so kind." I say, sarcastically.

She snorts thrice more and then finds the strength to calm down. "So-sorry… Urm… Hiccup, isn't it?" I nod meekly. "Yeah… Um, Hiccup, in the future I would advise you work on you… _Squealing_." She snorts again and giggles. "Not very manly, really… At all, actually." She tells me.

"Uh… Thanks for the advice…" I look at her.

Her eyes widen slightly in surprise. "Oh! My name is Merida!" She smiles at me, although it seems slightly forced.

"Well… Merida, thanks for the advice… Could you, from now on, refrain from doing so?" I asked.

I notice something, then and there. For some reason I can't get my head around her appearance. She looks so much more laid back compared to the Viking girls of my age. Specifically, her wild and curly, fiery red hair. It was strange… It looked as if it should look unattractive and scruffy… But it didn't… It looks the opposite.

She smiled weakly. "Sorry, but ye cannae blame me, really." She shrugged, then went to the window, opened it, and shouted. "Don't worry Mum; Dad! Hiccup and I have sorted everythin' out now! I'm ganna go tae sleep now! So g'night!" She ducked her head back in, closing the window afterwards. She opened a case and began rummaging through it.

I went over to my desk and sat down. "I would've though, you bein' a princess and all, you would have had more than just two cases-both of which aren't that big, really." I pointed out.

Merida didn't look up. "Mhmm… Yeah, _well_… You thought wrong… I'm not… Your average princess-Ah ha! _There _they are!" She pulled out a woven sack and grinned. She opened it and pulled out a shiny red apple. "Wanth fon? They're home-gwown!" She said with a mouthful of apple.

"Uh… Sure." She chucked one to me and I caught it just in time to stop it hitting my stomach at speed. I took a bite and loved it. "Thish ish delishous!" I compliment the apple.

Merida smiles as she swallows. "It's the soil, I say. I love these apples!" She takes a final bite and wipes her mouth and chin with the sleeve of her-what looks like-expensive dress… _What kind of princess __**is **__she? _I wonder. "Do you have somewhere I can put these?" She asks. From downstairs I hear the backdoor close.

"Yeah, actually." I walk over to the window and open it, Merida behind me. "Watch and learn." I say and chuck the apple core into a heap of decomposing waste-food that is… Just want to clear that up. Merida does the same, although with a puzzled expression. "The food decomposes and becomes good for the soil." I explain.

"Interesting…" Merida mumbles and goes over to her case and pulls out a… A white… _**Silk **__nightgown_? It has turquoise ribbon tying it together at the back, starting at the small of her back and ending at the middle of her shoulder-blades.

"Won't that be uncomfortable to sleep in?" I point out.

"Hiccup… Have you **not** seen what I am sleeping on?" Merida raises a single eyebrow and points with her hands to her bed, almost disbelievingly. _Wood_! Nothing else! Just… Just… _Tree bark!_ Oh, and two pillows and a thin blanket. No offence, but I think my nightie is the _least_ of my problems." She finishes.

"Ooh… 'Kay…? I could get you more pillows if you want…" I trail off.

She looks surprised. "What? Oh, no! You don't 'ave to I mean… _Tree bark_… It's a lot more comfortable than sleeping on rocks or the ground or…" She thought for a second. "An _actual _tree, for instance. I speak from experience, just so ya know" she hit her pillows lightly and arranged them the way she wanted, and then turned back to me. "Urm, Hiccup? Could ye leave the room for a minute? I need to change." She asks somewhat uncomfortably.

"Oh, sure! Just… Just tell me when I can come back in." And with that, I left the awkward tension that was thickening in the room.

* * *

_**Merida's**** P.O.V**_

Can I just say, getting this nightgown on is _Bloody Hell_!

I mean, for one thing, hair gets all tangled up in the in the ribbon, which holds the nightgown together at the back, and trying to _un_-tangled is absolute _torture_!

Anyways, right now I was impailing my face into the pillows, bent over the bed and trying to tie up the ribbons into a bow to hold the nightgown together. If it loosens, so does the rest of the dress. And I refuse to ask for help because I am one seriously... _Stubborn_ Princess!

"Damn it!"

There was a knock at the door. "Merida? You've been a while, can I come in now?" He asked from outside.

I straightened up. "Oh, sure..." I sighed in defeat as my fingers fumbled uselessly and pointlessly with the ribbon. I heard the door creak open slowly. "Can ya help me out?" I asked.

"Sure, do you need help with your ribbon?" He asked from behind me.

"No! I want you to help me find pet horse, Angus!" I say, obviously sarcastic. I take a few deep breaths to calm myself down. "I mean, yes. Just help me... Please?" I asked

"Sure, you got it, and afterwards we can go and have a look for Angus!" He openly laughed as he said this..._ Until_ I stomped on his left foot with mine. _Hard. "_Okay, okay, sorry!" He apologised as he finished tying up the perfect bow with the ribbons.

I stretched and yawned, then placed and black leather boots under the bed, as he headed back to his desk. "Thanks, I guess." I then laid down on the wooden bed and pulled the blanket over me. It was oddly... Comfy. Although, I guess I was already kind of used to sleeping on things that are much less than... _Convenient_.

I yawned again as I looked over to Hiccup. I watched him drag his desk-chair over to his bedside and place the candle on it, he then got into his bed. _Huh, Vikings sleep in their clothes... Probably for warmth, I guess_. I thought.

He looked over to me and tried a weak smile. "Night, Merida" He said sleepily, pulling the blanket over him, yawning as he did so.

"G'night Hiccup." I replied, just as tired.

He then blew out the candle and I let sleep take over me.

* * *

_**Merida's P.O.V- Next morning...**_

I groaned lightly and blinked repeatedly as I woke up fully.

I sat up slowly and stretched.

My gaze shifted to the window. I looked at the sun and decided it was around nine in the morning. I felt a grin spread on my face.

I quickly got out of my bed as quietly as I could manage, which ended up being very quiet, I proudly thought so, anyway!

I got on my knees and pulled out my my largest case and opened it. I pulled out one of my usual full-sleeved Clover Green dress with shiny, turquoise, clovers stitch around the skirt part of my dress. I also wore my white stockings and calf-brown riding boots and placed them on my bed. Leaving my case open, I stood up and turned around to Hiccup. I bit my lip, nervous, he could wake up...

Then I saw how his face was in his pillow and he was snoring loudly...

My nerves then died down.

I set my things out and pull on a loose ribbon from the bow to loosen the night. I took a deep breathe and let my nightgown fall to me feet and quickly pulled my normal on over my head. Thankfully, _this_ dress required no fussing that could wake Hiccup.

I quickly put on my white, woolly stockings and my boots, grinning as I leave out my corset, I'll put it on later for my mothers benefit.

I smirked and bent down to my opened case. I pulled out all my clothes and left them, in their piles, on my bed. When it was completely empty, I reach for the short, metal cord connected to the middle of the left side of the case and pulled it upwards. It open to reveal...

My archery set and my belt-quiver.

Excuse me... My _forbidden _Archery set and belt-quiver.

I tied my belt-quiver to my waist and loaded it with five arrows. I grabbed my bow.

I was about to open the bedroom door, when I noticed Hiccups snoring had stopped.

I froze for a few seconds, then stifly turned around, to face an utterly painting-perfect_(*)_ expression of gobsmacked and in complete shock.

"Uh... I am trying to fgure out a way to explain this..." I said slowly.

Hiccup just looked to my case and back to me, I smiled weakly. "I kind of... _Renovated_-yeah, that's it-I renovated my travel case to... To fit my needs..." I gulped loudly, fear taking over.

"I am guessing your parents didn't want you bringing those things." He assumed, correctly as well... Although it wasn't too hard exactly to figure out. Wait... Was he... Was he starting to... _Smile at me?_

Still, I didn't know if that was a Approving Smile or a Blackmail Smile, so I practically begged, "Please, please, please, _please_ don't tell me parents about this!" I thought for a second. "_Especially _me mum!" I added as an urgent afterthought. "They would kill me if they found out! Please, stay sil-" Hiccup raised a hand to me to cut me off.

"_Go_." he said, simply.

I went into shock slightly. "... _Eh?_" I asked, disbelievingly.

He chuckled. "Go. Before your parents wake up!" He told me.

I slowly began regaining my composure. "Uh-Uuh... Sure. Bye Hic-" I was, again cut off. But by a knock at the door, this time.

"Merida? Are you presentable?" It was mother! I went into full-on shock. "I need to come in and tell you something." I looked to Hiccup, wide-eyed. He was out of his bed immediately.

"Uh... Just a minute, mum!" I managed to call-more like, _squeaked_-out.

I run as fast and as quietly to the case, fumbling with the belt of belt-quiver as fast as I could. I sighed in relief as it came of and pulled the arrows out of the quiver. I placed them into the case and closed the flap over it. Then a pile of clothes somehow... _Fell?_ Fell on top of it... In a perfect pile...

I looked up to see Hiccup holding another pile of clothes. '_Thank you!_' I mouthed to him and smiled gratefully. Hiccup passed me the last two piles and ran to his desk.

"Merida! I am coming in now!" She opened the door and walked just as I was about to close the case. "Oh!" She said, obviously surprised. "You're both ready?" Hiccup and I nodded. "Perfect. Hiccup, because the triplets will be enough as it is at the treaty meeting, could you take Merida with you to Dragon Training?" She looked me up and down and I knew she was thinking I didn't look regal enough for a princess. "It would help a lot-and, of course, she will only be _watching_." She said whilst looking at me and with a stern expression and a warning tone. I crossed my arms, rolled my eyes and huffed.

"Urm... S-sure, Queen Elinor" Hiccup said, nervous, and I didn't think it was because of my mother... Although I couldn't see why he wasn't, in all honesty! He turned to me and gulped. "L-let's get going, Me-Merida!" He tried another smile, but it just made him look even more scared.

* * *

_**Hiccup's P.O.V-Later in the moring... Dragon Training!**_

"Welcome to dragon training!" Gobber announced as the rest of the recruits and I-oh and Merida file through the gate, and out onto the arena floor. Everyone apart from Merida, Gobber and I, take it in like gladiators entering the colosseum. The walls are covered in scorched silhouettes of blasted Vikings. It's a grim yet awe-inspiring place.

"No turning back." Astrid spoke up, proudly.

"I hope I get some serious burns!" Tuffnut says some-what sadistically. I stifle a laugh as I see Merida's expression, which has to be the same one I gave her this morning, just with more disbelief.

"I'm hoping for some mauling, like on my shoulder or lower back." Ruffnut says, causing Merida to look directly at me, eyebrows now at her hairline and mouths: '**_Hoping _**_for?!_'.

"Yeah, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it." I look at Merida again, to see her reaction, which is now one of understanding.

... The Scottish can be quite strange...

"Huh? Yeah, no kidding, right? Pain. _Love _it!" I say, trying to impress Astrid.

The recruits turn to see me trailing behind them. Groans all around. They don't see Merida, who is intelligently hiding behind Gobbers... Urm... _Stocky _figure.

"Oh great. Who let him in?" He argues, and others begin to join as Merida gives me a confused and slightly sympathetic look.

"Let's get started! The recruit who does best will win the honour of killing his first dragon in front of the entire village!" Gobber announces cheerfully.

"Hiccup already killed a Night Fury, soo... Does that disqualify him or...?" Snotlout mocks me. Making the recruits laugh and chatter in the background.

"Can I transfer to the class with the cool Vikings?" Tuffnut sneers and laughs.

Gobber throws a supportive arm around me and ushers me along.

"Don't worry." He told my, cheery and confident. "You're small and you're weak. That'll make you less of a target. They'll see you as sick or insane and go after the more Viking-like teens instead."

I deadpan.

Gobber sticks me in line with the others and continues on toward five massive reinforced doors. Terrible and terrifying roars and bellows issue from within.

"Behind these doors" Gobber continues. "Are just a few of the many species you will learn to fight."

Fishlegs bounces and giggles with excitement, barely able to contain himself.

"The Deadly Nadder." Gobber gives as an example.

"Speed-eight. Armor-sixteen." Fishlegs mutters under his breathe.

"The Hideous Zippleback."

"Plus eleven stealth. Times two." Fishlegs says, louder this time.

"The Monstrous Nightmare."

"Firepower is a fifteen."

"The Terrible Terror."

"Attack-eight. Venom-twelve." Fishlegs announces more trivial facts about the dragons.

"**CAN YOU STOP THAT?!**" Gobber shouts, silencing Fishlegs. "And...the Gronckle."

"strength, eight." Fishlegs mutters quietly to himself.

Gobber pulls a lever, raising the cross beam on the last of the doors.

"Whoa, wait! Aren't you gonna teach us first?!" Snotlout exclaims, off guard.

**"**I believe in learning on the job." Gobber says, nonchlantly. Then...

**BAM!**

A Gronkle thunders out of its cave, charging into the ring like an irate rhino. Us recruits scramble in every direction, while Merida continues hiding behind Gobber (... How hasn't he noticed her yet?), all except for Ruffnut and Tuffnut who rush toward it, like pumped-up rodeo clowns.

"Today is about survival. If you get blasted, you're dead. Quick, what's the first thing you're going to need?

**"**A doctor?" I say meekly.

"Plus five speed?" Fishlegs gulps.

"A shield!" Astrid shouts... She is so smart...

"Shields. Go." He instructs. We recruits scramble for shields, finding them scattered around the ring.

"Your most important piece of equipment is your shield. If you must make a choice between a sword or a shield, take the shield." He shouts above the noise.

I am struuggling to lift mine. Gobber helps me and push my back to send me running.

Ruff and Tuff stand amidst a dozen shields. But only one has a skull painted on it. They both grab it.

"Get your hands off my shield!" Tuffnut shouts.

"There are like a million shields!" She snarls right back.

"Take that one, it has a flower on it. Girls like flowers." Tuffnut growls at her.

Ruffnut uses the shield to bash Tuffnut harshly in the face. He still doesn't let go.

"Ooops, now this one has blood on it." She sneers and smirks.

The Gronckle takes aim at the distracted twins... And...

**Blam!**

The shield is blasted out of both of their hands. Tuff and Ruff spin like spinning-tops and go down.

"Tuffnut, Ruffnut, you're out!" Gobber hollers.

"What?!" Tuffnut and ruffnut shouts, dazed and confused.

The Gronckle scoops up a pile of rocks and swallows them back. Us teens gather on the far side of the ring.

Those shields are good for another thing. Noise. Make lots of it to throw off a dragon's aim." Gobber informs us... Wait, where has Merida disappeared to?

Immediately, we scoop up weapons and begin hammering on their shields. The Gronckle shakes its head at the clatter.

"All dragons have a limited number of shots. How many does a Gronckle have?" Gobber shouts at us through the noise.

"Five!" Snotlout shouts at us as an answer.

"No, six!" Fishlegs corrects him.

"Correct, six. That's one for each of you!" Gobber hollers at us.

**"**I really don't think my parents would-"

**BAM!**

Fishlegs is cut off by his shield being blasted away.

"Fishlegs, out." Gobber shouts to him.

Gobber spots me, hiding from the Gronckle's molten slugs.

"Hiccup, get in there!" He tries to encourage me.

I turn my attention on Astrid, who is bouncing on her heels, ready to dodge a blast. Snotlout appears, trying to hit on her.

"So anyway I'm moving into my parents' basement." Best way to start flirting. "You should come by sometime to work out. You look like you work out-"

She cartwheels out of the way as easily as a wheel turning around, allowing a shot to shoot past her and hit Snotlout's shield. He's blasted onto his back.

"Snotlout! You're done!"

Astrid rolls to a stop beside me, and I begin to stir awkwardly, trying to look cool.

And failing.

"So, I guess it's just you and me huh?" I say, my voice cracking.

"No." She's says, bluntly. "Just you."

Astrid then rolls away, immediately after finishing her sentence...

And A split-second later a lava slug knocks shield clear off of arm arm. I am completely and utterly exposed.

"One shot left!" Gobber tells me and the top of his lungs.

I begin to panic and chase after my shield as it rolls across the ring.

This sudden movement sends the Gronckle chasing after me, leaving Astrid in the clear... BUT I HAVE A DRAGON CHASING ME!

**"**Hiccup!" Gobber sounds worried, this _cannot _be good.

The Gronckle drives straight toward Hiccup, pinning him against the wall. It opens its mouth and cocks its tail, ready to fire point-blank.

I wince and begin to cower as I prepare to be scorched. I here Gobbers footsteps approaching, but too slow. The fire is begin to build up in the back of the dragons' throat and I finally close my eyes and brace myself, when...

"Back aff me friend, ye over groon toad!" A strong Scottish accent shouted. "And get back in yer cage, now! Got it, ye pest!" I felt a weight taken off me and I fall to the ground. I slowly slowly cracked my eyes open...

To see Merida, protecting herself with a shield direct a perfectly balanced sword in the direction of the... Gronkle?!

The girl's got guts, that's for sure. I noted, along with how her accent and words go even stronger when angry.

The Gronkle was backing away from her, as well! Couldn't blame it, either, Merida had a terrifying and determined expression and that partnered with her wielding a weapon... She became Scary Scot Merida!

She got it in line with its cage and swung her sword, not tring to hurt it though, just make it back up.

Gobber closed the the cage's door behind the dragon and Merida dropped the sword and shield on the second the cage door slammed closed, breathing heavily and sweating slight and looking at her weapon with light disgust.

She turned around to face a group of five confused and, ultimately, confused teenage Vikings. All she did was grin and wipes each of her hands on the other one. "And that..." She pants lightly. "... That is how you do _that._" She smiles and picks up the sword and places it on the Weapons Board.

Gobber raises a single eyebrow at her, impressed. "Merida?" She turns around to face him. "Sorry, _Princess _Merida." The five remaining teens' eyes widen even more. Gobber holds out his one hand to her. "Welcome to Dragon Training."

Merida's eyes widen and they dart to me for two seconds, and they show fear, just like mine, most likely, did this morning. I give her a look that tells her to accept. I know if she doesn't, she's in for it.

She swallows and clears her throat. She regains composure freakishly fast and reaches out her hand. "My pleasure, Gobber, my pleasure." She doesn't look happy. Not. One. _Bit._

Gobber turns to me. "You'll get another chance, don't you worry." He turns to all the recruits now.

"Remember... a dragon will always..." He gives us a stern look to Merida and I. "... _Always_ go for the kill.

He hoists me up to me feet and walks off. I look overhead to see a steaming pit in the solid stone wall.

I gulp, nervously.

* * *

_**Hiccup's P.O.V-Nearing the evening...**_

Battered from the disastrous day of training in the ring, I had decided to sneak off into woods and collect my thoughts.

I managed to sneak off without anyone seeing my.

* * *

_**Merida's P.O.V-At the exact same time...**_

I had managed to get my Archery set and belt-quiver and sneak out of the house. I needed to clear my head after today, I was stilling shaking from the power surge I had felt earlier.

I heard a twig snap near me, and I ducked behind a tree.

I quietened my breathing a looked around the tree.

To see Hiccup, looking extremely stressed.

He walked deeper into the forest and i was met with a dilema...

Shoot arrows to calm down, or follow Hiccup for entertainment?

...

I think I'll go for the Hiccup entertainment option, please!

And, who knows, I might be able to shoot a couple of arrows if things get too boring, he-he...

* * *

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

_**(*): **_**'Painting-Perfect'... Geddit? Like picture perfect, but picture hadn't been invented yet... Just pictures... I like to think it's funny word-play :D**

**Disclaimer: Nope, don't own it, never will... _Dayum!_**


	5. The Truth Comes Out

**A/N: Warning: Mericcup fluff is contained within this chapter... Not _too much _though, so it won't make you feel sick and/or lovey-dovey, so do not fret.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own '_How To Train Your Dragon_' nor do I own '_Brave_' ... Which is a shame, because, if I did I would vow to make and EPIC CROSSOVER!**

**Read, Enjoy, Review and fave... pwetty pwease?**

* * *

_**Hiccup's P.O.V**_

I walk further and further in to the woods, swerving under branches and jumping across small ditches. My eyes darting, in search of the place it all began.

After about thirteen minutes I reached the scene of the crime.

I bend over to pick up and study the remnants of the discarded bola...

"Dragons are _meant _to go for the kill… So, why didn't _you_?" I mutter to myself.

I drop the bola and begin to press on in the direction it flew off. I drop into a rocky crevice and follow it to an isolated cove, complete with a pristine spring pool. I scan the high stone walls... then notice a single black scale on the ground. I crouch and pick it up, studying it.

"Well this was stupid." I grumble to myself.

Suddenly, the Night Fury blasts past him. Making me recoil, watching the massive beast struggle to climb the walls. It flaps violently, and then peels away to a rough landing. The dragon appears to be trapped.

I grin, excited to see it again, and slowly begin to slip closer. I watch as the dragon, exhausted and frustrated, leaps into the air, beating its wings furiously. Again and again, it rolls uncontrolled and crashes heavily.

I immediately pull out my leather-bound book and flip past drawings of weapons to a blank page. I begin to sketch the main points of the dragon quickly, desperate to record the image.

The Night Fury claws at the steep rock walls, trying climb out of the cove. It slips and falls. Hard. It crushes several saplings. The Night Fury rolls back to his feet and slowly crawls to the water's edge. He appears to spot fish in the shallow water and snaps at them... But comes up empty. He lowers his head, looking weakened.

"Why don't you just...fly away?" I whisper to myself.

Then I am able to notice the problem. I adjust my drawing, carefully erasing (more like smudging) one half of the dragon's tail. I then accidentally drop the charcoal stick. It rolls off of the rock outcropping that hides him from view and bounces into the cove.

_Tink. _

_Tink._

_Tink._

_Thud._

Just my luck, right?

The Night Fury raises his head, spotting me. We exchange an unflinching stare.

I am certain I hear a gasp, but I just put it down as my own when I was distracted, with my mouth gaping open and whatnot.

_**Merida's P.O.V**_

No… No way! That… That is a dragon! Up close, as well…. And it's not attacking!

I gasp openly from behind the tree I am hiding behind. I think I catch Hiccup's attention, but he seems to ignore it.

Why doesn't that dragon fly away?

Whatever the reason… I think Hiccup knows. That's why he did something to his drawing of the (what I am assuming is) the dragon.

_I need to get my hands on that journal_; I think to myself and vow to myself to get him to show it me, or steal the journal... Which ever seems the easier option when the time comes.

I see Hiccup beginning to stand up and turn to walk away, and the way home is in _my_ direction! I gasp quietly, as to not catch his attention.

I begin to leg it back to the house on my tip-toes. Thankfully, the forest floor is covered in pine needles, which make almost no sound at all when I tread on them lightly and quickly.

When I am certain that I have left Hiccup far behind, I begin to slow down my pace, but not entirely, just to be on the safe side of things.

I reach to house again in about a record of seven minutes, panting and sweating slightly. I can hear my mother's voice say jokingly in my mind '_Ladies do not sweat, Merida_'. I laugh airily. I lean against a tree to catch my breath.

When I finally do, it's just in time, as well.

I turn around to just be about two inches away from Hiccup's face, our noses almost touching.

I feel my cheeks slowly beginning to burn, along with the tips of my ears.

"Wha-Wh-What are y-you doing here?" He stutters, his cheeks colouring also.

"Uh… Urm…"I internally sighed in utter relief when I remember… my _Archery set_! "Arch-Archery puh-practice" I laugh nervously, from being so close to him and the fact I am terrible at lying.

"O-oh… Well, I think we sh-should b-be getting back to the Great Hall… Urm… The recruits meet in there aft-after training… An-and everything…" He trails.

"Really? Well… That's a shame…" I feel the air around us thicken with an awkward tension. Then I remember something. "Wait! Me mam has nae idea that I _am_ a recruit! She'll kill me!" I scream-whisper. I then hold up my bow. "And I can't possibly sneak _this_ by without her noticing!"

"Urm… Gim'me them." Hiccup says, holding his hands out to take hold of my possessions. He notices my reluctance. "Trust me; I can't use it, to save my life… Literally! So why would I steal it?" I nod and hand him my bow, then unbuckle my belt-quiver, but I stumble as I do so and when I look up, mine and Hiccup's noses are touching. I gulp, even though I am still fumbling with my buckle, almost desperately now.

My blush it quickly escalating, and so is Hiccup's.

I finally feel the belt-quiver and openly sigh in relief. I hand it to him, only having to stretch my hand about four centimetres and, even then our hands still grazed.

He coughs and stepped back, shaking his head. He walks over to a tree with a hollow hole and places the bow in there first. He pulls out an arrow and carves a noticeable-only-if-you're-looking-for-it symbol: A triangle, to symbolise a bow, and a line with a tiny triangle at one end to symbolise an arrow.

He turns back to me. "Let's go tell you mum, eh?" He says, trying to amend the past situation. The in which it happen I still hadn't moved a millimetre away from, still some-what in shock.

"Ha, more like _yoo'll_ tell her!" I say, turning to him. "I like 'avin' someone tae blame if a plan doesn't go… As planned, y'know?" Sure, my mother had been more understanding of what I wanted after all of the earlier… _Events_… But she didn't want me doing this (_I _didn't want me doing this!) so I wasn't going to get the best reaction when I told her the news.

_**Hiccup's P.O.V-At the Great Hall, night.**_

A storm is brewing outside as me and . The great doors rattle on their hinges.

Merida and I are running through the village to the Great Hall. We're late because of the argument Merida and her parents got into, my dad eventually stepped in and convinced them to let her join in:

'_Princess or not, the dragon don't have sympathy, she needs to be able to defend herself.' _He had pointed out.

'… _That's true enough, I would say… She doesn't have her Archery kit to help her out of this one, Elinor. This could be vitally important.' _King Fergus had agreed.

'_True, but-' _Queen Elinor couldn't argue with the facts, she sighed. _'But I don't want her getting hurt, that's all.' _She said, protective or her daughters' safety.

'_Well, according to Gobber, she dealt with a Gronckle perfectly fine. With just a shield and terrible choice of weapon, really, a sword. But she still made the dragon back down back into the cage. You should be proud, eh, Fergus?' _My dad was in a good mood today, the treaty had been made official and he would be setting off tomorrow, with many warriors behind his cause.

All Elinor did then was nod in agreement and told us to get going, before we got in serious trouble with Gobber.

Although, as we left, I was sure I heard Merida mumble: _'I dun' want tae harm a dragon-especially one in captivity…'_ This left me puzzled to no end.

But back to now. It was getting ready to let the heavens open as we reached to Great Hall's door. We had run close to the entire length of the village in completely awkward silence. After the events of earlier today, things were strange… Not to mention later we would be sharing a _room_ later…

Oh, what luck I always want for, but never receive…

"She's right, you have to be tough on yourselves." I hear Gobber through the door, although it's quite muffled.

Merida and I push the door open with a loud and noticeable '_creeeak_'. All eyes turn to the two of us as we enter the hall, sheepishly. Gobber glares at us.

He continues to do so as he starts speaking again. "Where did Hiccup go wrong?" He asks the group as us two try to take a seat at the table...

"He showed up." Ruffnut sneers.

"He didn't get eaten." Tuffnut grumbles.

I wish for all this to end... But the recruits keep closing the gaps.

Rolling my eyes, I sit at the vacant table next to us.

"He's never where he should be." Astrid says and I cringe.

"From what I've seen, nowhere is the right place for Hiccup." I look up to see Merida. She just shrugs. "He isn't given a place to belong, is he?" She points out."

Snotlout laughs. "There is a reason for that, red-head." He says.

Merida glares at him. "If ye could refrain from callin' me… _Red-head_, please, I dun' like."

"Only more reason to call it ya. _Red-head_." He smirks.

Merida smiles a fake sickly-sweet smile at him. "Oh, don't mind me. I'm only _princess_ who could command for your execution." That doesn't sound right or true… Not at all. I see the gleam in her eyes, none this is true. Her smile changes to a smirk as her tone turns threatening. "_Or_… I could just do it myself…" She looks him up and down. "_Happily_, as well."

In my mind, I shake my head. I don't believe Merida when she says that, either.

Snotlout looks nervous, but still able to give her another snide remark, but Gobber cuts him off, saying: "Thank you, Astrid and Merida…" He stands up. "On another note, though. You need to live and breathe this stuff."

Gobber lays a giant book in the centre of the table.

"The dragon manual. Everything we know about every dragon we know of." He announces.

A rumble of thunder shakes the hall. Rain pours down outside.

"No attacks tonight. Study up." He says simply and exits the Great Hall and treks into the storm, leaving us teens staring at the book.

"Wait, you mean read?" Tuffnut says in a disbelieving, you've-got-to-be-kidding-me tone.

"While we're still alive?" Ruff says in the exact same way.

"Why read words when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?" Snotlout argues.

"Oh! I've read it like, seven times!" Fishlegs exclaims, proudly and happily. "There's this water dragon that sprays boiling water at your face. And there's this other one that buries itself for like a week..."

The teens stare as Fishlegs goes on too long.

Yeah, that sounds great. There was a chance I was going to read that..." Tuffnut says, not believable in the least.

"... But now..." His twin sister trails off.

Snotlout gets up to go.

"You guys read, I'll go kill stuff." He states and leaves. The others follow, with Fishlegs in tow.

"Oh and there's this other one that has these spines that look like trees..."

Astrid is the last to go.

"So I guess we'll share—" I start.

"Read it." She says, not interested. She pushes it toward me and leaves.

"All mine then. Wow, so okay. I'll see you—"

**Slam!**

"—Tomorrow."

I hear a giggle; I look up to see Merida, who just saw everything that just happened.

"You like her, don't you, Hiccup?" She asks, smiling.

I sigh in defeat. "I like her. _A lot_, Merida, if you really want to know." I groan. "But I have no chance with her."

"Oh… her loss. An' if she thinks she's tae good for ye, she needs tae ge' aff her high horse an' realise she thinks tae highly of herself what is good for her." She reassures me and the awkwardness from earlier seems to just… Vanish. It's just two friends, one comforting the other. She comes and sits next to me and pats my arm twice, lightly.

"Hey… Thanks" I say, sincerely. "For defending me earlier and reassuring me just then." She smiles a toothy smile at me. "Oh! And _definitely_ for threatening Snotlout! _Definitely _thanking youfor _that._" We laugh.

"Well, it's gettin' late in to the night, let's on with readin' the book, eh?" Merida suggested and I nodded in agreement.

I open the massive book. Thunder booms outside. The hall is vacant and dark, but for the few candles we've pulled together. We begin to pour through page after page of strange and frightening dragons.

I begin to describe the dragons, not knowing if Merida could read or translate Norse; the Highlands might have a different language. "Dragon classifications. Strike class. Fear class and Mystery class".

Merida turns the page.

"The Thunderdrum." I begin. "This reclusive dragon inhabits sea caves and dark tide pools. When startled, the Thunderdrum produces a concussive sound that can kill a man at close range. Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight."

Our eyes drift to a lurid illustration of decapitated Vikings. Another page, another dragon.

"Timberjack. This gigantic creature has razor sharp wings that can slice through full grown trees...extremely dangerous. Kill on sight."

The illustrations seem to take on a life of their own, shifting and squirming in the candlelight.

"Scauldron. Sprays scalding water at its victim. Extremely dangerous." The storm outside rages against the shuttered windows. It startles us, but I press on.

"Changewing. Even newly hatched dragons can spray acid. Kill on sight."

He begins flipping through the pages. A blur of dragons...

Gronckle. Zippleback. The Skrill. Bone Knapper. Whispering Death. Burns its victims. Buries its victims. Chokes its victims. Turns its victims inside-out. Extremely dangerous. Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight. Kill on sight. Kill on sight..."

"Am I the only one noticing a pattern here?" Merida mumbles.

I finally lands upon the page I have, secretly, been looking for.

"Night Fury." I say.

It's blank—no image, save for a few, sparse details.

"Speed unknown. Size unknown. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Never engage this dragon. Your only chance, hide and pray it does not find you." I am saying this to myself.

Forgetting Merida is even there; I pull my sketchbook out of my vest and open it to my drawing of the Night Fury. I lay it over the book's blank page and consider it.

I realised what I did too late and not until I heard Merida gasp.

"Hiccup… How did you get this picture?" She asks… Although she doesn't seem that shocked, really. A part of her tone sounds like she accomplished something.

She grabs the book and studies the picture. "How come ye erased one of the dragons' tail-wings?" She asks, curious.

"Because… I caused the Night fury to lose it when I made it crash down…" I sound ashamed, and I am. I look up to Merida, whose mouth is slightly ajar, but the corners of her mouth curve upwards.

Her right hands index finger traces the lines of my drawing. "Yoo're really good at drawin'" She says, then faces me, eyebrow raised comically, and a toothy grin in place. "What kin' of Viking _are _ye?" She asks.

"To be honest, I have no clue, myself." I mutter, smiling lightly, as I stand up from the table, ready to go home. As I look back towards Merida, my sight catches three floating blue things, almost completely faded, beginning from where I was sat, and ending at the feet of Merida. She stands up herself and we open the front door, a gush of wind flows into the room, blowing out the candles.

"Both of us are goin' tae see tha'…" She lowers her voice to a whisper. "…Tha' dragon, tomorrow, okay?"

I think this over… After having a raging battle in my mind I decide that I can trust her, so I nod. "We'd best getting runnin', eh?" I say in the end.

Merida nods and takes the lead, leaving me to think something over… Merida never asked me _where _I found the dragon…

I have a hunch that wasn't _my_ gasp after all…

_**3**__**rd**__** Person P.O.V-High seas- Dawn, the next day.**_

A painted dragon, with a sword piercing through it. It's the billowing sail of Stoick's ship. Stoick hovers over the familiar nautical map – his eyes on the uncharted corner, swirling in mist and illustrations of dragons.

King Fergus appears next to him, ready to do his part. "I can almost smell them. They're close. Steady." He announces. Stoick raises his gaze to an epic fog bank, towering from sky to sea like a bruised, daunting curtain, beyond which nothing is visible. The three ships drift alongside it, skirting its solid edge, looking for an opening.

On deck the crewmen mill nervously, all too aware of what Stoick is considering.

"Take us in." Stoick commands.

The helmsman steers Stoick's ship into the fog. The men draw their weapons, prepping for the worst.

"Hard to port... for Helheim's gate." A Viking says.

The first ship disappears into the whiteout, followed by the other two.

Suddenly a flash of light. A silhouette of a dragon. Hollers. Sounds of splitting and shattering wood. Plunges into the water. Another bright flash.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, just to point out: Yes, what Hiccup saw leading to Merida _were,_ in fact, The Wisps that lead you to your fate-do NOT take that out of context, it will probably have a double message meant to confuse you, not what you think. How do I know this? I'm writin' the blimin' story!**

**_Although_... Tell me your theory on the Will O' Wisps, I would LOVE to see what you think! :D**


	6. The Approach

**A/N: I updated! Woohoo! ... Not much to say here except... I _MAY_ have lied a tad bit... I could not help it! It was the perfect set-up for Mericcup friendship!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own it, however unfortunate.**

**Read, Enjoy, Review, Favourite... _Pwetty Pwease... ?_**

**All I have to say except, this was an awesome chapter to write!**

* * *

_**Hiccup's P.O.V-Training ring, same day, afternoon.**_

I run my finger over the outline of the dragon painted on the shield I had chosen.

This is probably the best time to ask. "You know, I just happened to notice the book had nothing on Night Furies. Is there another book? Or a sequel? Maybe a little Night Fury pamphlet?"

**KABLAM!**

A blast takes the axe head off of my hilt, leaving a smoking hole behind me. I yelp and run.

"_Focus_ Hiccup! You're not even trying." Gobber shouts, safe outside the arena.

The Deadly Nadder, loose in a maze-like arrangement of moveable walls. Gobber calls orders from above.

"Today... is all about attack."

The Nadder hops from wall to wall, sending us recruits scurrying.

"Nadders are quick and light on their feet. Your job is to be quicker and lighter." Gobber informs-ever the voice of wisdom… Huh, so you _can_ sound sarcastic in your thoughts… Interesting…

The teens move in, stumbling over Hiccup and his unwieldy shield.

The Nadder spots Fishlegs' rear-end from his hiding place behind a wall. It whips its tail of spikes. Fishlegs screams and lifts an entire wall to shield himself from the spray.

"I'm really beginning to question your teaching methods." He shouts his voice cracking.

"Look for its blind spot. Every dragon has one. Find it, hide in it, and strike." Gobber shouts, dismissing Fishlegs' outburst from earlier.

Ruff and Tuff rush in, diving and rolling up to the Nadder's nose. The Nadder sniffs the air–it can't see them. Tuff and Ruff are smashed together–too close for comfort.

"Do you ever bathe?" I just hear Ruffnut whisper harshly to her twin.

"If you don't like it, then just get your own blind spot." He growls back.

"How's about I give you one!" Ruffnut threatens.

Ruff and Tuff begin to shove each other, till their movement and noise gives them away. The Nadder attacks, snapping at both of them.

"The Nadders Blind Spot? Yes. Deaf spot? Not so much." Gobber shouts to the two. I swear to Thor he takes sadistic pleasure out of watching us be attacked… He is a Viking, after all.

I wander up to Gobber, while the others dart past.

"Hey, so how would one sneak up on a Night Fury?" I ask.

"No one's ever met one and lived to tell the tale. Now get in there!" He exclaims.

"I know, I know, but hypothetically..." I begin.

"Hiccup!" Astrid whispers at me. She puts her finger to her lips and gestures for me to hide. A moment later, the Nadder leaps over the walls, surprising them by landing in front of her.

Astrid somersaults into its blind spot, confusing it. She rears back to strike–just as Snotlout leaps in, protectively sweeping Astrid behind him.

"Watch out Astrid. I'll take care of this." I shouts, proudly.

"Hey!" Astrid shouts at him.

Surprisingly, Snotlout misses. Astrid glares at him.

"The sun was in my eyes, Astrid. What do you want me to do, block out the sun? I could do that, but I don't have time right now!" He say, getting on the defensive.

The Nadder tears off after her, knocking down walls in pursuit. She leaps and dives like a professional.

I use this time to wander up to Gobber again.

"They probably take the daytime off. You know, like a cat. Has anyone ever seen one napping?" I ask, hopeful.

"Hiccup!" Gobber and another voice shouts at me. I turn around to find the second.

"—Hiccup!" Astrid shouts again.

I spin around to see the maze walls collapsing like dominos toward me. Astrid comes flying through the dust and crash-lands on top of me, laying me out in a limb-tangled mess.

"Oooh! Love on the battlefield!" Tuffnut snickers.

"She could do better." Ruffnut joins in.

The Nadder closes in, emerging through the cloud of dust.

"Just... let me... why don't you..." I say, trying to untangle us two.

The Nadder spins around and races back toward us like a Raptor.

Astrid untangles herself and tries to pull her axe from my shield... which is attached to his limp, gangly arm.

She plants her foot on his torso and yanks the axe free, still burrowed into the shield.

She spins and swings the axe and shield, which would score a direct hit on the oncoming Nadder's nose... But it doesn't. Something flies through the air and knocks it off target. The shield and axe land with a loud '_THUD!_' on top of the dragons claws. It yelps and scurries off.

"Well done, Astrid, you would have won then… But _someone_ isn't playing fair!" He looks serious for a few seconds, then a grin replaces it. "Congratulations Merida!"

Gobber hobbles off to wrestle the Nadder back into his cave.

I get to my feet–all eyes are upon me, probably because Merida is nowhere in sight. I turn to find Astrid glaring at me, winded.

"Is this some kind of a joke to you? Our parents' war is about to become ours. Figure out which side you're on." She grabs her axe and begins to stomp off, but stops, and adds as an afterthought. "Also…" Her glare darkens. "Keep your _friend_ in check, would ya? If she doesn't keep showing _us_ up…" She says the word '_friend_' with verbal venom, and I know when she says '_us_' she means herself and her pride. "… Well, something might just happen to her and, _well_, it's _our _word against _hers_-and possibly yours, if you could ever find the will to be brave enough." She growls at me, glare appearing to be permanent and he lips in a scowl. "Because, she may be a princess in her own little world… But _here_, she is about as high up the food-chain as _you_" She purses her lips for a moment, probably thinking if there is anything she left out, she smirks, deciding she hasn't.

_Then_ she storms off, the others following her, smirking and snickering.

But I still can't help but watch, stung.

Then a thought hits me like a Nadder to the gut. I look around, no-one is left in the arena…

_Merida! _I think frantically, remembering my promise to her, and take off running.

_**Third Person P.O.V-Later in the day-At The Cove…**_

Close in on a fish... Being thrown into the cove. It hits the ground and slides. A moment later, Hiccup peeks through a gap in the rock, looking around cautiously. Nothing.

Hiccup squeezes through and enters the cove.

A second passes, then Hiccup hears a snort from behind him. Hiccup turns to see the Night Fury, crouched on a rock like a stealthy panther. It descends, approaching him... ready to pounce.

Hiccup swallows his fear and offers the fish. Doing so reveals the dagger at his waist. The dragon sees it and hisses. Hiccup reaches for it, eliciting a growl. He pauses, carefully lifts it by the handle, and tosses it away. The dragon calms.

As it approaches the fish, Hiccup notices that it's missing teeth.

"Huh. Toothless. I could've sworn you had..." Hiccup trails off, in confusion.

A set of razor sharp teeth emerge from its gums to grab the fish. Toothless snatches and gnashes it up, swallowing it.

"... Teeth." He finishes with his voice high-pitched.

The teeth retract again.

Toothless presses closer with an expectant look. Hiccup retreats nervously.

"Uh, no. No, I don't have any more." He says, beginning to get nervous.

The Night Fury backs Hiccup against a rock, placing him the same position as a few days ago. The dragon closes in over him, staring blankly.

A tense moment passes... then Toothless regurgitates a chunk of fish onto Hiccup's lap. They exchange stares.

Hiccup realizes what Toothless wants him to do.

Hiccup crouches slowly and squeamishly picks it up. The dragon waits expectantly. Hiccup gags and gnaws off a bite of the slimy fish. He forces a goofy, lopsided smile. Toothless mimics him.

Amazed, Hiccup sits up and tries to touch him. Toothless hisses and flaps off to a crash on the other side of the cove. He blasts the mossy ground to a red-hot temperature... And curls up on it like a giant dog. He turns to find Hiccup seated beside him. Toothless tolerates his persistent presence... until Hiccup tries to touch his damaged tail. Toothless snaps at him. Hiccup takes the hint and leaves.

He sits on a rock, bored.

"He's a beaut, Hiccup." A girl's voice whispers behind him breathless, making him jump.

He turns around to see Merida staring at the dragon, awestruck and her jaw slack, a smile grazes his lips at both her expression and presence.

"Glad you've appeared, Princess." He grins, resulting in Merida punching his arm in a slightly friendly manner.

"Shut it, ye wee Vikin'" She smirks and sits next to me.

"Where did you run off to?" He asks, then adds as an afterthought.

"Well, the minute I shot th' arrow an' it hit Astrid's axe out of th' way, I knew I 'ad tae get out of there-an' tha' lass gets _freaky_ when annoyed! I also didn't want tae be… _congratulated_ for hurtin' th' dragon… So… I legged it." Merida explained to him, fiddling with one of her arrows.

Hiccups laughs. "I see. Smart girl, for running away from Astrid, I mean." Merida raises a single eyebrow him. "Although… That left _me_ to suffer her anger." Hiccup smiles weakly.

Merida's eyes widen and her mouth shapes into a wide 'o' shape as she gasps and attentively grasps his arm. "Hiccup, I am so, so, _so_ sorry! I should have realised tha-" Merida began, almost frantically, apologising, but Hiccup just held a hand up, grinning now at how she _actually_ cared about him-maybe she _was_ his friend… Can you make a friend that quickly?

"So…" Merida continued, calming down, with a small smile. "How did get the Night Fury to trust you?" Hiccup gestured to the fish. "Oh… You took a bite out of it, and then… And then he trusted you?" She questioned.

"Yeah… well, kinda, he won't let me touch him or anything…" Hiccup explains.

"Och! My horse Angus was _just _like tha' when I found 'im!" Merida exclaimed, happily. "Y'see, he ain't an official horse of th' Royals, I found 'im as a stray in th' fields one day and just… Just… Just… _Knew_ he was the horse for me-strange, I guess, but still. I gained his attention with givin' 'im apples, and I wanted tae train 'im immediately, but I had tae gain his trust first." She took a deep breath, and continued. "Tae gain his trust, I went tae 'im every day, each one I got closer to him-oh! And I would do this thing were I held my hand out to him, my hand on level with his snout and each day he would come a lil' bit closer 'til… 'til he let me touch his snout-meaning he trusted me." She smiled at Hiccup, breathing slightly heavier than normal, since she didn't take more than one breath through that entire speech.

"That… _Actually_ helps…" He smiles lopsidedly at her and she returns it, looking just as goofy as he did.

"I am a female, Hiccup, which means I am _naturally _th' _epitome _of wisd'm!" She laughs and he joins in, she even snorted quite a lot, but doesn't get embarrassed by it.

Soon, the two fell into a comfortable silence, taking in the sceneryand the sounds of the wildlife around them.

_**Later on… (still Third Person P.O.V)**_

It's Magic Hour. The Night Fury wakes, hanging upside down from a tree. He spots Hiccup and Merida sitting on the other side of the cove, Hiccup is sketching in the sand. A sketch of the Night Fury.

Hiccup draws with a stick, minding his own business, as Merida admires it. Toothless appears behind him, watching carefully. Aware of his presence, Hiccup continues, slyly grabbing Meridas' arm, telling her not to turn around and startle the dragon as it gets used to her presence, at the same time, trying not to scare him off. The dragon walks off.

A moment later, he reappears with an entire sapling, drawing lines in the sand. He rushes here and there, making haphazard lines in every direction. Finally, Toothless drops the tree and inspects his work. He seems pleased.

Hiccup stands, with his grasp still on Meridas' arm, thus bringing her up with him, they take in the sprawling scribble, amazed by it.

The Night Fury's teeth emerge once again as he notices Meridas' archery set.

"Och, urm… I cannae throw it away; it is tae precious, sorrae…" Merida explains, voice slowly becoming higher from nerves. The Night Fury's eyes narrow. "I-I… I dun' even-I would _never_ harm a dragon… I just shoot fur apples an' other fruit!" The Night Fury's expression becomes one of confusion. Merida fumbles around in her quiver-which only has three arrows packed in it-, making the dragon retract his progressing trust towards her, until she pulls out a ripe, shiny green apple. She chucks it lightly and it ends up rolling lightly to his feet. The dragon sniffs it and then inhales it through his mouth, making Merida giggle lightly and throws the other six in the quiver to him. The dragons' eyes soften to a friendly state.

The two decide it is safe to move now.

_**Hiccup's P.O.V**_

I accidentally steps onto one of the lines, eliciting an instant growl from Toothless. I step on it again. Toothless growls again.

Realizing how sensitive he is, I begin to step carefully between each line, but Merida now grabs my arm, her eyes following the pattern of the lines. She smiles… At me. The smile looks… _Shy_? She looks like she was going to speak, but I decide to be bold for once.

I hold hands out and smile goofily back, my cheeks reddening quickly. "May I have this dance?"

She looks surprised, like that was what she was going to say, but returns with a toothy and lopsided grin. "Why, yes, kind sir, you most certainly can!"

I take Meridas' hands in mine and we begin turning round and round, I even find the courage to twirl her around a few times, and we laugh happily through it… Until we unwittingly bump into the Night Fury.

Toothless snorts. Once again, the dragon and I are face to face.

I towards Merida, I nod to her, which seems to confuse her, until I lightly grab her left wrist with my right hand and begin to slowly raise and extends our hands, Merida adjust hers so half her hand is cupped in mine. The dragon hesitates.

I decide to turn my head away and close my eyes and Merida copies me.

And, to our utter amazement the Night Fury bridges the gap and presses his muzzle against mine and Merida's hands.

In a flash, the dragon is gone, leaving the two of us completely astounded.

_**Merida's P.O.V-In the Village at night-time…**_

Gobber and the recruits are seated at the top of an abandoned catapult tower, toasting campfire food around a roaring bonfire.

"... And with one twist he took my hand and swallowed it whole. And I saw the look on his face." He looks like he was about to say something he just simply couldn't deny. "I was delicious. He must have passed the word, because it wasn't a month before another one of them took my leg!" He exclaimed… The others gasp… But after hearing my dad go on and on about how he lost his leg… Whenever I hear stories other lost limbs, I immediately be uninterested and bored… It's a reflex, or something. I cannot help it.

"Is it weird to think that your hand was inside a dragon? Like, if your mind was still in control of it you could have killed the dragon from the inside by crushing his heart or something?" Fishlegs says. Huh, he kind of has a point.

"I swear I'm so angry right now. I'll avenge your beautiful hand and your beautiful foot. I'll chop off the legs of every dragon I fight, with my face." Snotlout brags. He postures to Astrid. She rolls her eyes. Okay, she might be _slightly_ mentally unstable when aggravated… But then again, aren't most Vikings? Some don't even need to be aggravated…

Okay, getting off topic, where was I? Oh yeah, Astrid might be a tad on the crazy side, but at least she knows not to fall for Snotlouts… Strange attempts at... _Courting_ her.

"Un-unh." Gobber begins, a mouthful of chicken leg, he gulps it down and continues. "It's the wings and the tails you really want. If it can't fly, it can't get away. A downed dragon is a dead dragon." He and the others grin, as if they could only _dream_ of getting their hands on a downed dragon.

Hiccup and I share a look, hiding our horrified expressions from the others.

Gobber stands and stretches. "Alright. I'm off to bed. You should be too. Tomorrow we get into the big boys, slowly but surely making our way up to the Monstrous Nightmare." He says the next bit playful, taunting even. "But who'll win the honour of killing it?" He hobbles off. The teens reflect.

"It's gonna be me." Tuffnut say, all matter-of-factly. "It's my destiny. See?" He continues. Tuffnut rolls up his sleeve to reveal a red dragon on his arm.

Fishlegs gasps. "Your mum let you get a tattoo?" He asks in disbelief.

Tuffnut laugh. "It's not a tattoo. It's a birthmark."

"Okay, I've been stuck with you _since _birth, and that was never there before." Ruffnut scoffs and accuses.

"Yes it was! You've just never seen me from the left side until now." Tuffnut explains.

"It wasn't there yesterday. Is it a birthmark or a today-mark?" Snotlout jokes and laughs loudly. Hiccup gets up and walks away from the group. Astrid watches him as he leaves the bonfire.

I wait about two minutes and go and slip away from the group, who are having a deep discussion about what their dream dragon to kill was, completely unnoticed. As soon as I am off the last step, I begin to run to the big house on top of the hill.

On my way, I pass the Blacksmiths Stall, and I see a candle lit from inside, a shadow is shown of the wall. It certainly isn't Gobber… Who else uses it?

… Hiccup!

_**Moments later… (still Meridas P.O.V)**_

As I enter the stall, I see Hiccup enter a small room at the back of the stall. It's covered in drawings of weaponry and scale models. He lights a candle and lays his sketchbook out on the desk, opening it to the drawing of the Night Fury.

With a look of determination, Hiccup picks up a charcoal stick and re-draws the missing tail, but it looks more… Mechanical.

"Is that possible?" I ask. I must have been quiet, because this surprised Hiccup and he jumped and banged his head on a contraption above his head.

He slowly regains composure and smiles sheepishly at me.

"…We'll find out soon enough." He gestures to t stool near the work table, and I take a seat, intrigued by his talent at inventing.

_**One hour later…**_

... A creaking leather bellows. The stone forge glows with every pump. Tongs pull intricate iron pieces from the coals. They're dropped onto the anvil, twisted, lightly hammered, and dunked in a barrel. The pieces are carried to Hiccup's workbench and laid out in place on a one-to-one schematic. It's a sketch of a mechanical fin.

"Wow…" I say, breathless. "Tha's amazin', Hiccup! You 'ave talent!" I stand up and look over his shoulder, getting a proper look at the contraption

"Thanks…" He says distractedly.

"Okay… When ye finish it, let's take it tae and hide it in th' tree we 'ide my archery kit in." I say.

"Sounds like a plan." He smiles and gets back to work…

_**Later…**_

After hiding the make-shift tail-wing for the dragon in the tree, Hiccup and I managed to sneak into the house quietly and not wake anyone up.

He waited outside as I put on my nightgown and helped me tie the ribbon.

As we lay in our beds, Hiccup made me jump by speaking up: "What should we name him?" He asked.

"Name who?" I question, now confused.

"The Night Fury, I mean, we can't try to train him or anything and just call him 'The Dragon', y'know?" He explains.

I lift myself up and balance myself on my elbows and turn my head to him, grinning. "Ye wan'na train 'im now, do ye? That's bold, Hiccup-impressive, too. But you do have a point… If _we're_ gon'na train 'im, we can't call 'im 'The Dragon'…" I hum, thinking.

"… Toothless!" I turn to face Hiccup fully, my feet dangling over the edge of the bed. "Well, he _is _toothless—for the most part, anyway-just leave his drawings alone." We laugh and I nod my head.

"… That fits. Okay, we agree—his name is Toothless!" We nod and get comfortable in the beds again and he blows out the candle.

"First thin'… tomorrow… We go see…" He talks drowsily and yawns. "Toothless… 'Kay?"

I yawn loudly. "You gots it… 'Night, Hiccup." I say.

"G'night Merida…"

I drift off into peaceful sleep once again, smiling as I did so.


	7. The Nosebleed

**A/N: Hiya guys! Yes I am alive, apolgies for my lack of updates for this embarrassing amount of time. I do have excuses, but, luckily, I will not bore you with them ;)  
I would prefer to think of this chapter as a filler chapter, although it isn't. I think I could have done better, or more, but it was already over 3,260 words long! At the same time I like the ending because it is different to what I usually write, as I get awkward trying to write those awkward girl/boy friendship-with-crushes-involved situations. Why? Because I have never experienced that situation! I can deal with dragon and Vikings and Scottish and everything else but lovey-dovey, crushy stuff? I. Am. _The_. Ultimate. Ditz.**

**Seriously, I will need to be convinced about this chapter, or concritted! Thanks guys!**

**Shout Outs: Thank you, my friend, _AzianDemigod16_ for beta'ing this chapter and... Urm, the list is too long! ... Being Canadian? Yeah, that works XD.**

**Also, if you like my story, _please _ check out the story '_How To Play With Fire' _by _ThatMollyKid._ It is brilliant and written really well! And, whereas my story is set in the film version of '_HTTYD_' theirs is based off of the book, so it is a bit different and a bit more unique!**

**Disclaimer: Nope don't own it. 'Nuff said :P**

**Read, Enjoy, Favourite and Review? :)**

* * *

_**Merida's POV- just after Dawn. (I refuse to say 'Breaking Dawn')**_

I was sleeping peacefully, having a brilliant dream…

"_C'mon Merida, you're so far behind me it's unbelievable!" I hear Hiccup shout from above me. We're back at Dun'Broch, I am riding on Angus through the forest, whereas Hiccup glides and soars through the sky on Toothless, laughing cheerfully… Something I don't think I have seen him do more than twice._

"_I dun' think so, Hiccup! We're in my territory now!" I retort tauntingly as I laugh happily, running my fingers through Angus's silver-grey mane, smiling._

"_Then you should know you're comin' to a dead-end now, princess! Sorry, but unless you can get through a solid mountain, it looks like I'm gon'na win!" He shouts back down. I smirk and refuse to reply. I slow Angus down to a hardly audible trot and direct him to the mountainside; Hiccup is too high up to notice the hollow part of the mountain the just a bit bigger in size and width of your standard closet doors._

_Thus, is big enough to fit a horse, no problem._

_Once inside, Angus recognises his surroundings and neighs and rises up on to his hind legs then breaks off into a run. The hole in the mountain is also a short cut. A journey that could take many hours going around the mountain, you barely have to break sweat on a journey through here. Shame not many know about it._

_After a bit, Angus goes through a second hole and into an opening. A meadow that blossoms in a way that makes me guess it must be the middle of spring. It also has a fairly large river running alongside it, the water sparkling in the sunlight._

_He comes to a stop to let me get off. I look around and then up at the sky and frown… Where is Hiccup? Maybe he went back for me. Oh, well, I still won!_

"_TOOTHLESS!" I shout, so loud that a large number of birds in near-by trees fly away, squawking…_

… _Well, that is the Scottish accent for ye._

_A few moments later, I see a flying black speck in the sky, to high up for me to logically know what it is… But I do anyways._

_I fold my arms and grin victoriously as Toothless and Hiccup land, the latter of which look flabbergasted at me. "How...? How did you do that?" He asks, utterly confused._

"_Like I said Hiccup…" I say as I walk over and begin to stroke Toothless. "This is my territory." I laugh and my eye catches my reflection in the river. I look older… Seventeen at the very least! Maybe even eighteen! I whip my head around to Hiccup. He looks eighteen, too! Without fail!_

… _Aren't I meant to be married by eighteen?_

_Then, suddenly, my dream-self takes over; my conscious is weakened in my dream state to make this normal again. I begin walking over to Hiccup._

_He just laughs and grabs my left hand as soon as I am within arms-length of him and I feel myself blushing… Is that even possible in a dream?! "Alas, I'm afraid I shall need to learn it…" Okay, this is normal so far. Please let it stay that way! "Seeing as I am meant to share it with you." My dream hates me, without a doubt!_

_My conscious wants to take over and allow me to scream but my dream-self just giggles._

_Wait… Did I just… Just… GIGGLE?!_

"_Good point. If it took you well over a year just to learn how to kiss me without crashing your teeth against mine and that is just a small thing…" he mock-glares at me. "… How are you meant to get used to all of Dun'Broch?!" 'I' laugh at him, clutching 'my' stomach lightly; 'I' snort a few times as well._

_When 'I' look at him, he is smiling. "Hey, I wouldn't say the first thing was easy at all! You are just so… picky about how you want things!" He joked. He looked thoughtful for a second. "Worth it though"_

'_I' laugh and go closer to him and stand on 'my' tip-toes. The tips of our noses brush against each other as 'I' grin. "Definitely." he leans towards me…"Merida, Merida" 'I' look at him, confused as he keeps on saying my name, as if he was talking to someone else, trying to… Wake them up?_

_Oh crud._

_This is a dream, isn't it?_

* * *

…

"Merida!" Hiccup whisper-shouts at me, semi-violently shaking my shoulders.

I gasp and sit up ruler-straight. I don't know whether I was about the scream or shriek in surprise, but Hiccup saw my mouth open and put his hand over it.

I calmed down and got over my shock and relaxed, but Hiccup still didn't move his hand…

Until I nipped at it with my teeth.

He pulled his hand back immediately and looked at me with shock; I just stuck my tongue out at him childishly.

"Forget what kind of princess you are; what kind of _person_ are you?" He said accusingly. By this point, I had hopped out of the bed and looked at him disbelievingly.

"I'm Scottish, what more doo ye need? Oh, except Scottish strength, man! I didn't even bite yer properly an' I was 'alf expecting you to squeal ageen" I snickered as Hiccup now stuck his tongue out at me.

He sighed. "I'll sneak out and wait by the tree… Meet me there, 'kay?"

I just 'mhmm'ed in response. He nodded and snuck out. I sat down on the bed and tried to remember my I dream and groaned airily in frustration.

I found out two things. One: I couldn't remember my dream for the life of me. Two: My cheeks were burning like crazy.

What the heck had I been dreaming about? Did I even want to know…?

I shook my head and proceeded to get ready. I put on a traditional clover-green Celtic dress that had a long, golden-coloured fabric that tied loosely around the top of my still-developing hips and then the remaining two loose pieces of fabric hung down to my left knee. Dark pink roses were stitched delicately into the hemline and neckline. I was used to wearing this dress to horse ride on Angus. I put on my riding boots, simply for the comfort they now had from being worn countless times.

I stretch and begin to sneak out of the bedroom door and descend down the stairs as gracefully as a horse in ladies heels and yet, somehow, as quiet as a mouse.

I am about to reach for the door when I hear a creak at the top of the stairs. "Merida, where do ye think yoo're goin'?" I cursed under my breath and turned around.

"Outside, mother, why do ye ask? Where could I run of to?" I choose my words carefully, but try not to show it. Alas, it doesn't work to its full extent.

"I noticed that Hiccup wasn't in the room either…" Was it just me, or was my mother smirking? "An explanation is in order." She finishes, as regal as ever.

I scowl and mentally roll my eyes. "Well, mother, if ye must know, I am teachin' Hiccup archery. Gobber told us in Dragon Training tha' a downed dragon is… Is a…" My saliva feels like tree sap, thick and sticky, and I can't swallow it. I force the words out. "Dead dragon, so I told Hiccup of my archery skills and he informed me of how that could speed up the process of downing the dragon… Urm, s-so he made me bow and some arrows to help him practice and show him how to do things with and… Well, here we are." I finish, fighting back a massive sigh of relief that the ordeal of me lying was finished. Plus, I hadn't taken a single breathe all the way my shaky-voiced speech.

My mum pursed her lips. My heart was thumping like mad. She smiled lightly and said, "Go, you don't want to be late now… Just don't let people see the two out together this early…" I am certain she is fighting back a grin, maybe even a laugh, as well! "… They might just get the wrong idea about the two of you." She gives me a knowing look and my eyes bulge and my cheeks and ear colour at a rapid speed. I go to protest, but she gives me a dismissive wave of her hand. "Merida, I honestly don't mind the two of you being in each other's company, I am not suspicious and won't be… unless you give me a reason to be. If I do, you'll be sleeping on the ship, not sharing a room with the boy." She had a quirked eyebrow and a stern expression; I had a _please-gods-kill-me-now!_ Express and an even redder face after the meaning behind her last sentence dawned on me. I mumbled a quick 'Yes mum' and was out there, cursing in whispers as I closed the door and ran.

I ran to the tree at a stupid speed, using most of my energy and almost crashing into the tree, I lean against the tree, catching my breath. I jump slightly when Hiccup appears, with a massive woven basket that has a vomit-inducing odour emitting from it, I mean, I have a strong stomach, but the power of the odour made my hands fly to my mouth and forced down a retch.

"Sorry, but we'll need it to get him to trust us." He explained sheepishly, I gave a reluctant nod that most likely went with a pained expression.

"O-okay," I mumbled, making a mental note to keep a sensible distance from the basket. "But, if you don't mind telling me, what _is _that stench?"

"Freshly caught fish." He answered nonchalantly.

"What? Ye went out an' caught these yerself?" I ask, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

"No, but-uh-the fishermen went out this morning and these are some of those fish." He replied, his tone laced with something that made it sound like he wished he had lied instead. Merida silently went into mild hysterics on the inside at that.

"So… These ar' actually freshly _swatched (*) _fish?" I gave him a disapproving look and shook my head as I waggled my finger at him accusingly. He sighed at me as we reached into the tree and pulled out the wing contraption. I opted to hold it and leave my archery kit, as we wanted Toothless to stay as calm as possible, and even though he knew I would never harm him, any kind of weapon put him on the edge.

"Shut up." He mumbled, rolling his eyes.

We began walking through the forest and I bumped his shoulder playfully. "Ye shut up, Hiccup, I am just 'n shock ye stoll_(*)_ sommat. Mah brothers would be proud!" I laughed lightly whilst he decided to bump my shoulder, which caught me by surprise, so I stumbled a bit, I mock-glared at him, but a smile pulled at the corners my lips. "Let's hurry!" And with that, I lifted my skirt with my free hand and took off running, hair flying backwards as I only just heard Hiccup's fastening footsteps and him shouting 'Hey, wait for me, you crazy princess!'

I laughed the entire time I was running.

_**Hiccup's POV- at the Cove.**_

I arrive at the cove, winded, straining under the weight of a full basket. Merida beat me here, so I don't know where she is. I click the scale he found. Toothless catches whiff of the multiple fish and approaches slowly, sniffing me.

"Hey Toothless. I brought breakfast. I hope you're hungry." I say, almost timidly, which is understandable. Gobber says a downed dragon is a dead dragon, but that is going off of the easy dragons.

A downed _Night Fury_? That is a _completely_ different story.

I drop the basket and kick it over. Loads of fish spill out. Toothless approaches quickly now, settling in to devour-more like inhale-the feast.

"Okay, Merida was right, that's disgusting. Uh… we've got some salmon..." Toothless swallows it immediately. "... Some nice Icelandic cod..." He wastes no time in swallowing those too. "... And a whole… smoked eel?" I say, slightly confused, we don't usually catch these. Toothless nabs it, chews a few times and then spits it out. He shakes his head violently, snorts and scrubs his massive tongue on the sand near the small river. I take note of this, as well as notice that Merida has been crouched of the sand, tracing drawings in the sand and fiddling with the mechanical wing. She turned her head to me and looked at Toothless next. She then gave me a '_Keep him distracted_', I nodded at her and turned my full attention to Toothless.

"No, no, no! It's okay. Yeah, I don't like eel much either." Toothless focuses on the remainder of the fish which I pour out, for once being thankfully for growing up with this atmosphere and smell so it no longer bothered me, I would hate to be Merida, who was slowly turning a light green from the stench even though she was quite a distance away and so she should only be getting a faint whiff of it. With the dragon distracted, I give a subtle nod to Merida unwraps the prosthetic fin and opens it, like a fan.

"Okay. That's it. That's it, just stick with good stuff. And don't you mind Merida. She'll just be back...here. She's just minding her own business."

Merida cautiously approaches the injured tail, but every time she gets near it, Toothless sweeps it away like a cat.

"It's okay." Merida mumbles. She drops a knee on top of the tail. Toothless' head juts up, slows its chewing to a halt. "It's Okay...okay…" The dragon tenses, slowly spreading his wings. Merida straddles his tail, facing the tip of the tail, to keep it in place and straps the prosthetic fin in place perfectly and at a lightning speed. She cinches the straps.

"There! Noh' tae bad. It works." Merida announces, pleased with her quick work, "You did a fine job with this tail, it looks sturdy and is a great fit!" She turns herself slightly to give me a thumb up.

All of a sudden, Toothless blots! He snaps his massive wings and takes to the air, carrying Merida with him, but she isn't prepared so her grip is too loose and she swings upside down, so her back is now facing the ground. But she tightens her grip now so she won't fall, which is good. I still gasp at the situation, then almost scream like a girl when the tail swings towards me.

"Woah!" I shout loudly as I attempt jump over the last second, but as I jumped up, the tail flicked up and crash into me. Of course, with my luck this happens with me only having my legs secured around the tail. If you don't understand what that means, it means I was hanging upside down by my weak teenage legs.

"_**We're gooin' t' DIE!**_" Merida shrieks as we twist and flail around like ragdolls. I don't disagree with her. She probably would hear me as she yells loudly.

I was going to die. _Goodbye world, _I thought mournfully.

The way I responded to this outside my head was a tad bit different, as it went like this: "No! No! No!" As I struggle to hold on to the tail. As the ground speeds away, Toothless immediately tips into an uncontrolled bank and dive.

I fight against the forceful wind that keeps my head in one place to look at the source of the problem. I notice the folded fin rattling uselessly in opposition to its flared counterpart. Flap as he may, Toothless is rendered powerless and correct his trajectory.

I swallow my fear and swing my body, from the waist up, back and forth, I quickly find myself close enough to the tail and wrap my arms around it, I shuffle toward Merida, which is as far as I can go, I realise worriedly. I can't get to the fake wing.

My only option is to shout out for Merida to do it. I open my mouth and shout as loud as I possibly can so I am not muffled by the wind: "MERIDA! I need you to yank the folded prosthetic wing _open_! Okay?!"

"What? I didn't catch tha' as we're gon'na _DIE_!" She shouts back, and then begins to shout her theories on how we will die. I won't disturb you with the details. _You're welcome_.

Brilliant! My only friend has to be as cynical as they come. Great work, Hiccup, great work.

"I said: I need you to yank the folded prosthetic wing open, unless you want one of your theories to become reality! Okay, did you hear me that time?!" She didn't answer this time, but began to move towards the tail. I internally sighed in relief.

A few seconds later, I saw her right arm jerk out towards the wing and pull back. All of a sudden the flared, fan-like appendage catches the air, stabilizing the twisting tail.

"It's working!" I yell gleefully, excited and terrified at the same time.

"I'm gooin' t' _kill_ you, Hiccup!" Merida growls at me as I grin like a fool. Which I am, but at least I am a happy fool.

Toothless arcs just short of the water and climbs... high into the air.

"Yes! Yes, I did it." I laugh-well I end up almost most choking on the air, but same thing, right?

Toothless glances back at us two, Merida busily holding the tail open while trying to hold on. They're going to crash.

_**Whoomp!**_

Merida and I are suddenly thrown from the tail in the intense force of a turn.

"AAAAAGGGGHHHHH!" I yell.

"_HICCUP! IF WE DIE I'M GON'NA KILL YE!_" Merida screams threateningly.

We bounce across the water's surface and take a swim.

Without Merida or I to operate the tail, Toothless does the same, plunging in a massive cannonball. I resurface, roughed up, but beaming. Toothless appears seconds later.

"Yeah!" I cheer, extremely proud of myself. I ignore how the little dive has made my hair stick to my face and my clothes cling to my gangly form, which results in my getting chilled and soaked to the bone.

I hear some coughing a spluttering from behind me and Toothless directs his attention to it. I turn and see Merida in a similar state to me, except her hair colour has gone darker. I am somewhat ashamed to admit that I couldn't help but notice how her dress, uh… _Clung_ to her form. My eyes bulged slightly, but (here is where the shame comes in) I didn't exactly… _Look away_.

Damn hormones. Blame them.

Merida started to look up from wringing her hair, I quickly looked away,blushing profusely. I had a feeling I had been caught anyways, which made me blush harder in embarrassment. "Maybe we should stay 'ere a while, y'know? To dry off." She offers and I nod in response, not trust my mouth with the large responsibility of letting words comes out of it.

She steps out of the water, her back now facing me... And her dress stilling... _Clinging tightly_.

I gulped and fell back into the water as I felt a nosebleed coming on.

* * *

**Okay, here we go:**

**(*) Swatched means, stolen.**

**Did you like it or hate it? Too long, too short? Tell me! :)**


	8. The Hug, Blush and Beginings of a Crush

**A/N: Hey guys! Both me and the story are alive and well, this has just been a matter of inspiration and time to write, so I'm still sorry! Anyways I just want to say that this chapter goes off the movie quite a bit so the development between Hiccup and Merida is more visible in a way. Tell me if you like it or not in a PM or review :)**

**Also, you know how I sometimes I dedicate a chapter a chapter to someone? Well this chapter is dedicated to '_She with the bow and laptop_'. She sent me the sweetest PM EVER! She actually was the reason I got the chapter done at all, her kind words really pushed me to get this chapter. I really hope I really hope I did a good job '_She with the bow and laptop_'! I also want to point something out: In her PM, she actually _thanked me for my story and writing_. It's basically everyones dream on to get recognition for our hard work and stories... But to be _thanked _for our writing? You have no idea how it feels read those words. So, thanks '_She with the bow and laptop_'!**

**On with the chapter!**

* * *

_**Training Grounds – Morning- Third Person POV **_

"Today is about teamwork. Work together and you might survive." Gobber announces with a somewhat manic grin. A large door slowly opens. Gas seeps through the cracks. It suddenly blasts open. A cloud of smoke engulfs the ring, swirling around the paired-up teens, Astrid with Ruffnut, Snotlout with Tuffnut, Fishlegs with Hiccup and Merida was by herself but had two buckets instead of just one to make things fair. She seemed completely fine, not noticing how she was being looked at as if to say '_why haven't they put you with someone? You could _die' by everyone except Astrid-who really couldn't care-and Gobber-who really saw nothing wrong with the arrangement. All carry buckets of water, poised to throw them.

Gobber continues his speech. "Now, a wet dragon head can't light its fire. The Hideous Zippleback is extra tricky. One head breathes gas, the other head lights it. Your job is to know which is which."

The smoke encircles them, cutting them off from each other. The teens listen and watch for any sign of the dragon.

Fishlegs begins muttering to himself: "Razor sharp, serrated teeth that inject venom for pre-digestion. Prefers ambush attack, crushing its victims in its-" he is cut off a tense voice on his left.

"Will you _please_ stop that?" Hiccup almost squeaks.

Snotlout and Tuffnut are moving nervously through the fog, back to back. Snotlout is singing a traditional song to himself to calm his nerves.

Snotlout tries to appear brave, saying, "If that dragon shows either of his faces, I'm gonna-" he spots an odd shape approaching them and is immediately terrified. "-There!" He shouts and so Snotlout and Tuffnut hurl their water into the fog, hoping for the best.

"Hey!" A very feminine and not-very dragon-like voice shouts out. It's Astrid. She and Ruffnut step out of the fog.

"It's us, idiots." Ruffnut growls, which is understandable, seeing as Astrid and Ruffnut are soaked.

"Your butts are getting bigger. We thought you were a dragon." Tuffnut quips, smirking a subtle but obnoxious smirk.

Snotlout looks at Astrid and decides that he must amend mistaking her for a _dragon_. "N-Not that th-there's anything wrong with a dragon-esque figure, there isn't! It's ac-actually very flattering!" He stutters and is given the response of Astrid elbowing him in the face. Ruffnut drop Tuffnut with a swift punch to the throat.

Astrid suddenly looks wary, "Wait." They freeze. A tail sweeps out of the fog, taking them down.

Their buckets spill.

Hiccup and Fishlegs are getting closer to crossing paths with the four teens. They see puddles of spilled water.

"Oh, I'm hurt. I am very much hurt." Tuffnut moans

"Chances of survival are dwindling into single digits now..." Fishlegs mumbles in a voice close to a scared child's.

"Look out!" Hiccup suddenly exclaims as a Zippleback head emerges out of the smoke. Fishlegs hurls his water at it, completely dousing the head. It leers and opens its mouth, spewing gas into the area.

"Oh. Wrong head." He says in a '_oopsy daisy_' tone. Gas swirls around their legs. Fishlegs flees in a panic.

"Fishlegs!" Gobber shouts after him.

There is a moment of silence.

A clicking sound comes from behind them.

Sparks flash in the smoke. Anyone with a bucket in their grip didn't now.

Then, "_Ack no ye don't, Fishlegs! Ge' back in there!__** Now!**_" And a confused Fishlegs comes back into view along with a leg covered by a sea blue formal Celtic dress that had an odd red pattern on the leg.

Fishlegs was the only person left with a bucket and ran to give it Hiccup. Then a bucket swung in the air, then a second, distracting the Gas head. _Merida, _Hiccup guesses correctly.

"_Now_, Hiccup!" Gobber yells the order as the other head sweeps out of the smoke. Hiccup hurls his water with all his might. It arcs and drops short of the dragon's sparking mouth. The dragon grins, savouring the kill.

"Oh, come on!" Hiccup almost whines.

"Run, Hiccup!" Gobber yells once again and covers his eyes. "Hiccup!" And then...

Silence, once again, or as silent an island inhabited by Vikings can be.

The Zippleback hesitate, sniffs the air, then retreats.

The teens, except Fishlegs, Hiccup and Merida, get to their feet, watching transfixed.

Gobber peeks through his fingers to see... The Zippleback backing away from Hiccup, he stands and holds his hands out, as if controlling it.

"BACK! BACK! BACK! Now don't you make me tell you again!" He warns the Zippleback retreats through its door and into its cave, hissing in annoyance.

"Yes, that's right. Back into your cage." He says in the least threatening voice ever.

Merida notices Hiccup slyly opening his vest, revealing the spotted smoked Eel from earlier. He tosses it inside the door; then slams it shut dramatically. Merida stifles a chuckle and a knowing smile.

"Now think about what you've done." Hiccup finishes, shocked at what he just himself.

Hiccup turns to the teens and Gobber. They stare, slack-jawed, except Merida, who simply looks humoured, her right hand over her mouth to hide her smirk and supress laughter.

He waits about three minutes to see if their expression change. They don't. "Okay! So are we done? Because I've got some things I need to..." Hiccup never finishes his sentence because he notices that Merida disappeared and he knows where to as well. Hiccup jogs out of the ring, past the speechless group.

"Yep...see you tomorrow." He says before he leaves and vanishes into the fog.

Astrid sneers. Something's going on.

As she, the twins, Snotlout and Fishlegs walk out Ruffnut brings up an interesting topic.

"Guys?" She asks to get their attention, "don't you find it odd how much time Princess and Hiccup spend together?"

"And they're always running off and disappearing within minutes of each other!" Snotlout inputs, with a tone of realisation.

Astrid stops walking and the others do to. "You're right, if one vanishes, a few minutes later the other slyly does to, too slyly for my liking. I mean we're training to fight _dragons_ for Thors' sake!" She stops as they hear a light rumble of thunder for five seconds. "We notice the _slightest_ details and quirks in dragons and people… yet we only notice what these two keep doing _now_? I don't like that. Not _one_ bit." She almost sounds worried towards the end.

"Urm, guys," Fishlegs joins in with a questioning tone, "can I just point out that you're only focusing on them _how_ they are disappearing." He waits a moment to see if anyone has caught on. They haven't so he continues. "Maybe we should be focussing on _why_ or a specific _reason_ they would all be disappearing… _together_! D'you get my drift?" They look confused still but Fishlegs lets them work it out.

Twenty seconds later there is a game of Follow-My-Leader but with gasps.

"_No way!_" Tuffnut exclaims. "No way…" He mumbles.

"They're _together_-together?!" Ruffnut says, shocked.

"She's lame and certainly not the prettiest girl," Snotlout spares a glance at Astrid. "But she deserves a lot better than the stick!"

"They're… What's the formal word for it?" She thought for a minute, "... They're _courting_ one another?" Astrid almost gasps again, her eyes wide.

The four turn to Fishlegs again for more answers or information but he halfway down the rock street, on the way to his house. They turn to one another and Astrid opens her mouth three times, but closes it about three seconds after. What is going on is absurd and, Astrid thinks, illegal, she could mention these things but, on her fourth attempt on opening her mouth all that comes out it, in a small and surprised voice, is: "The excuse-for-a-Princess of Scotland and the excuse-for-a-Viking of Berk. Who would have guessed?" Then the four walk off, to Astrids house let this settle in then use the information in their favour.

_**Sunset- Meridas POV**_

In the Blacksmith stall Hiccup cuts and stitches leather, draws and shapes steel. He works by candlelight and doesn't stop, nor miss a beat. An overhead glance reveals what he's building: a harness, complete with handles and foot pedals.

I recognise it with ease. I need one to ride Angus. I grin brightly and walk over to him.

"Hiccup, are ye plannin' on dooin' whit I think ye are?" I question, faking a parents tone when then disapprove of a choice you have made or want to make. I don't get that too much anymore off my mother, but when I do we now discuss it and make compromises. So if I want to ride Angus whilst there is a banquet and I want my mother to excuse me, I have to attend the Clan meetings or and hour extra of Princess Lessons. I never want to talk about the Highland Games; she agrees and says she won't utter a word unless it is at a Clan meeting or the week up to the Highland Games. It's a good system.

Hiccup grin shows a new-found confidence that I think suits him a lot. "Yep, and guess what?" I nod for him to continue and he holds the saddle up vertically. "It fits two." I grin even wider and hug him out of excitement, I swear I hear his breath hitch, but I think I knocked the wind out of him so I let it go.

"Thank ye, thank ye, thank ye Hiccup, so much!" I say giddily. "I have always wanted to ride a dragon!" I finish as I pull away and his cheeks are flushed but I remember how hard I hugged him so he must have simply found it hard to breathe. I mutter a quick sorry before he speaks again.

"You have dragons in Scotland?" he asks.

I nod. "Aye, we dae, but they are a bonnie _(*)_ rare sight. I have seen four in my life an' that's includin' Toothless." I tell him, calming my tone down before I go _too_ Scottish and he can't understand a single syllable I say! "They dun' bother us at all; just fly over Dun'Broch, they dae."

"Oh," is Hiccups response "wait, Dun'Broch sounds like a title of a tribe or… Or… Darn, what's the word?" My breathe hitches. _Oh c'mon Hiccup! Ye're a smart lad but _please _dun' work this out! _"That's it! It's a clan, Dun'Broch!" He exclaims. Then his face falls. "Wait, but you're meant to be the Royalty of _Scotland_ not a simple clan."

Damn it!

I sigh. "Well, I'll explain… Ye might wanna sit down again…" He does and I tell him how Scotland doesn't have lead royalty, it has clans which have their own system and royalty and it just happens that the Dun'Broch clan is the largest and so is the closest thing to a leading royalty we have and that is why we came. Them I tell him the history of the clans from as far back as I think to recent events, like when I defied tradition and refused to be married of in such a way as the Highland Games. Then how I had much mother and brothers turned into bears and then, afterwards, my mother said the Highland Games would continue but I could wait until I was nineteen to make my decision. I tell him of how the Viking-Scottish war affects our side as much as it does to Hiccups'.

He tells me as much as he can of Berk before we realise we must be going. We trade whispered stories, legends and ghost stories before we reach the tree and hide the saddle and walk into the house saying Hiccup gave me a brief tour of the village and island.

We eat together with my mother and brothers, which is nice and intimate for my family, the only sound is the fire. And, although this is wonderful, every one of us at one point glances worriedly at the two empty places that should be occupied.

_**The next morning-Meridas POV **_

Hiccup appears before Toothless, holding the new prosthetic and I hold the saddle. Toothless runs off as Hiccup chases him down.

"Hey!" Hiccup yells comically and I would laugh but I miss my father, I didn't completely realise it until now, but I miss him so much. My mother does as well, but much more, but she still embraced and comforted me last night when I snuck back downstairs in my nightgown last night. When she went down to the main hall with the triplets to work out a treaty plan with the remaining Scottish soldiers and the most respected Viking she looked so distraught.

Wait the triplets! They have been… _civil_! What are they planning?

Hiccup fits the new wing and says something to Toothless and walks over to me.

"I told him to train for a bit with the wing in cove and we would help him more tomorrow, so we'll just put the saddle in the tree on the way to training until tomorrow. Sound good?"

I force a smile. A modest one, so it isn't noticeably forced and I nod. "Great idea, Hiccup, we'd best be goin' now." I begin walking away, and Hiccup joins me, we make polite conversation on the way but nothing too specific. By the time I am putting the saddle in the tree, there is the ultimate awkward silence between us. I want to apologise to Hiccup but I also don't because I shouldn't have to say sorry for missing my father…

And I shouldn't be taking it out on my friend…

I turn around and open my mouth to say sorry, but Hiccup isn't there. I walk out on to the open hill and look around and catch him entering the village already.

I frown. Walking to the village take five to six minutes. But I only took three minutes putting the saddle away because I struggled. I frown a bit more realising that it meant one thing: He actually _ran away from me_! I know I was being distant but _he ran away from me_. Was I being _that _bad?

I sigh and realised with embarrassment that my bottom lip is trembling. There is too much going on in my head and I can't concentrate properly, so I decide to miss this Dragon Training class.

I wait in the Haddock household for about an hour before my mother comes home with my siblings and remembers that I should be at lessons.

"Merida, is something the matter?" She asks, concerned.

I sigh. "I miss dad…" I said and Hamish, Harris and Huberts' grins fell and they nodded in agreement and came and sat next to me. My mother sat in-between us and wrapped us in a huddle and sideways group hug.

We sat in a comforted silence as she rocked us gently. Afterwards she had us talked things through and told us the story of how our father lost his leg and told us sternly that he would return or else she would kill him.

We believed her and didn't question how she could kill a dead man. With my mother, anything is possible.

Hiccup arrived as my mother finished preparing tea, a simple but delicious. She, unlike what some suspected, married into royalty, my father didn't, so she learnt how to cook and clean and make clothes from a young age. She grew up a simple and average village girl that worked harder than anything to support her family at thirteen years of age by earning a job as a castle maid. She befriended my fourteen year old father-who, as a male, did not experience the Highland Games, but something _much_ more traumatic. Dancing Balls-and things went on from there and at age eighteen, he refused to marry royalty and only wanted my mother. Hey, don't think my mother manipulated my father; the announcement came as a shock to her too!

We ate in a normal silence then I realised how tired I was so I decided to retire to the unisex bedroom.

I was failing at tying my nightgown ribbon when I heard footsteps and assumed it was my mother so I continued the war between my hands and my ribbon when I heard a muffled chuckle a bit too teenager-y and male to be my mother.

"Need any help?" Hiccup asked and I sighed.

"Yes…" I said reluctantly and he chuckled again and walked in. He did the knot perfectly within seconds and sat down on my bed, so I decided to sit next to him.

He took a deep breath, "did I do something wrong? I feel like I did." I told me, not beating around the bush. I smiled slightly; I liked how Hiccup was gaining confidence and the ability to be straightforward, it suited him. I wouldn't tell him that. Not because he didn't deserve an ego boost or because I was nervous but because I… I just… _knew_ that he had to work this out for himself, that the effect of learning about his confidence would be bigger and more rewarding than if I told him.

"No" I say sternly. "Ye did naethin' it's just…" I trail off and look out of the window, towards the beautiful sunset and glistening sea and sigh wearily.

"Your dad?" He asks. At first confused as to why then says it with understanding, "your dad… has your dad ever been away for lengthy periods before?"

I shake my head "usually he's gone for a day or controls his part of whatever is gooin' on from th' castle."

Hiccup nodded. "I've grown up with Gobber being more of a parent than my dad… Well he didn't used to do it so much when I was younger… But when I was five, my mother died… It all changed. My mum died and he could never find closure with her death so my dad found any excuse to get off the island. He'd be gone months at a time sometimes. Once he was gone twelve months… an entire year." I gaped at him. Not because I was shocked-I was though, don't get me wrong-but because he had told me that. Sure we were friends and forced to share a room but we didn't really know each other. Yet I have never felt closer to someone before…

"Oh" is all I say. I say nothing more because I am rendered speechless by Hiccup suddenly putting an arm around my shoulder in a friendly and comforting embrace. I put my head on his shoulder and watch the sun go down as we sit in a comfortable silence that explains more to the other than could if we tried to talk it out.

"You okay now?" I nod slightly and we separate.

Hiccup blows out the candle as we lie in our beds, then a question arises.

"Hiccup, how did ye mam die?" Straightforward? Yes. Possibly going to sound extremely rude. Correct again.

Hiccup takes a few seconds to respond and I wonder if I said the wrong thing. Then he speaks and muscles I didn't realise had tensed relax, "I was five, I can remember her, but not much-yet enough, at the same time, strange right?-she died from some illness too strong to be subdued by our weak medicines. Not a dragon, if were wondering." There is a hint of humour in his voice as he finishes.

"Thank ye for tellin' me, Hiccup, it means a lot." I say, honestly, smiling though he can't see it.

"You're welcome, it's nice to share what I feel with someone who cares" he replies just as kindly and honestly.

I could say thanks too, but opt out, instead saying something much more meaningful. "You're an exceptional good friend Hiccup; I want you to know that. I trust ye. A lot" I tell him earnestly.

He doesn't respond, and I feel the comfort of the pillow lulling me to sleep.

I give in easily.

_**Hiccup's POV**_

We're friends. She said it. We're friends, _exceptional _ones at that.

I knew-well, assumed-we were already. But its different hearing her say it out loud, getting that confirmation.

And I don't know why but hearing her say that makes me feel really happy, happy than what should be expected, really.

All I know is that I fall asleep a few minutes after Merida, a goofy grin fixed on my face.


	9. The Dress and the Push

_**A/N: ****Hi guys! Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but I have been on holiday. Also, expect more chapters like these- chapters that don't focus around the plot of the 'How To Train Your Dragon' movie and focuses more around Merida and Hiccup and developing their friendship.**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own 'HTTYB', 'Brave' or the cover image, which was made by 'Pinkie-Perfect'.**_

_**Oh yeah, when it comes to me updating, I won't tend to update unless I get ten reviews, because I LOATHE the number nine (but I love odd numbers, don't ask) and I probably won't upate until I get that ONE more review... Is that weird? Ah... I don't care! :)**_

* * *

_**Night-Hiccup's P.O.V.**_

I woke up with the sun and got my notebook, which held the plans for a new design for an improved harness.

I was about to leave when I heard Merida's snoring, which sounded like the soft growling of a baby Gronckle. She grumbled in distaste and I was momentarily taken aback, scared that she had read my thoughts.

I thought for a minute, but then decided not to wake her, then set off for the Blacksmiths Stall.

* * *

_**Blacksmiths Stall-Hiccup's P.O.V.**_

I cut and stitch leather, draw and shape steel. I work by candle and natural light. I am creating a harness, complete with handles and foot pedals-big enough for two.

I sigh, indicating I have finished. I admire my work, which I am extremely proud of, wiping sweat off my brow.

I pick up my creation begin to grin happily; I then go and trek up to the tree and hide the harness. I sigh again as my muscles now relax. I sneak into the house again and light the fire, to warm the house up. As I make my way upstairs I see Elinor's door open and the triplets are huddled together, I walked in and their mumbling goes quiet, they turn towards me and study me.

"What are you doin'?" I ask, smiling, leaning against the doorframe. Although my smile falls when they stand together, glaring at me, I open my mouth to ask them why they are treating me that way, when they just point for me to leave. They're tiny but also slightly terrifying, so I do as instructed and go back downstairs and make myself something to eat. A few minutes later, as I am finishing my meal off, Elinor descends down the stairs with the triplets.

"Oh, hello Hiccup, where were you earlier?" She asks.

"Woke up and couldn't get back to sleep, so I took a walk." I lied, which I was worried I was becoming a bit too good at.

Elinor goes to make something for the others to eat and nods in understanding, "Okay 'en, cheers for nae wakin' Merida, after last night Ah she needed some extra sleep." She smiled at me then, obviously not knowing just _how_ early-or night, depending on the way you look at it-looked like she remembered something. "Oh! Almost forgot, Merida will nae be going to Dragon Training t'day, as she 'as to be present at th' meeting t'day, could ye tell Gobber tha'?" She asked.

"Sure, Queen Elinor." I promised.

"Oh, no need for tha', Hiccup, you can just call me Elinor unless formalities are required," she told me and I began to see her as more than a queen; she was a mother first and foremost and it showed.

I smiled kindly. "Okay them, Elinor; I will do s-… Oh" I trailed off but Elinor didn't notice. The reason for me trailing off was because Merida had descended the stairs, grumbling.

"Mam, I'm ready!" She called out in a sing-song voice. She wore a crystal white dress with gold trimmings and a gold rope belt; she wore gold-brown boots with heels, thus guaranteeing that she would tower over me. She sat next to me, her hair tamed slightly into a loose side plait so it didn't hit me it the face.

She sighed, looking downwards. "Gosh, this corsit will be th' death 'av me!" She complained, struggling against the restraint. "I 'ave tae wear it, though. Me mam says it makes me look me age and more presentable. Oh! Nae tae mention _this_ monstrosity!" She looked up my breath hitched in my throat. She was wearing _make-up_, I had seen some of the older women of the village wear it, the women that made clothes and didn't fight dragons, but I have never become speechless in their presence because of it. She had some black powder lining her eyes, making the blue irises stand out and had something I didn't know the name of coating her lips, making them ruby red, ironically the colour my cheeks probably were becoming. "I mean, seriously!" She complained, going to rub the substances off her face.

"Dun you dare, missy!" Elinor called, her back turned to Merida.

"Fine…" She grumbled then glared at her brothers, of which two of them were snickering at her. "Oi, Hamish and Harris, ye best stop tha' _now_ or else." She then turned to Hubbert and said. "An' what's gott'n into ye Hubbert?"

The young boy shrugged and opened his mouth, "Ye looch pretty t'day, sis." He smiled and Merida looked taken aback.

"Oh, urm… Thanks Hubbert." She looked surprised and turned to me. "Is he lyin' Hiccup? I dun exactly trust th' boy," she said, with a sheepish tone.

"Uh, urm… I-I don't _disagree_ with him." I stammered and Merida thought for a minute.

"Well… Pretty ain't me, so dun expect this offen!" She said with finality, not pronouncing the't' in 'often'.

After eating, Elinor re-applied the coating to Merida's lips. Merida sat next to me again and whispered "_Ay'll meet ye wi' Toothless after trainin', 'kay?"_ and they four left, waving me goodbye and I set off for the Cove when they made it to the village.

* * *

_**At the Cove-Third Person P.O.V**_

Hiccup appears before Toothless, holding the new prosthetic and saddle-harness. Toothless runs off as Hiccup chases him down.

"Hey!" He yells in irritation.

The two struggle for a while, but Hiccup, eventually, prevails. He safely secures the saddle to the Night Fury and a new half of the tail. He gives Toothless a fish and grin at him.

"You wanna test the new improvements out, buddy?"

Toothless perks up, obviously intrigued at the idea.

~_**Ten minutes later**_~

Toothless and Hiccup are zooming over the ocean. The tail breaks free sending Hiccup flying.

"Yeah, Whoa!" He yells in ecstasy, as Toothless swoops underneath him, so he lands where he was sat previously, laughing and feeling sorry for Merida, wishing she could be there with him. Then he remembers how she looked and how he felt and blushes again and decides to distract himself with the fact he is so close to the water, yet he is _flying_; not floating, or gliding-_flying_.

* * *

_**Later in the Blacksmith's Stall-Third Person P.O.V**_

Hiccup adjusts the harness and uses a metal clamp to affix himself to Toothless' saddle.

He works quickly, even though he knows Gobber won't return, as he will be prepping for the lesson today, but he can't risk being seen by people, because people get curious, and when people get curious they talk-ask questions that Hiccup would prefer not to answer.

_**Above the field**_

Hiccup and Toothless zip through the air - his rudimentaryharness and tail controls are working, barely. They crash-land in an open field. Hiccup recovers to find Toothless still rolling around in the tall grass. Hiccup discovers that it's a patch of 'dragon-nip' so to speak. Toothless writhes on his back, tongue wagging, in complete bliss.

Hiccup smirks, then realises that he need to get to training.

_**Training Grounds-morning-Hiccups P.O.V**_

After a long struggle, I finally manage to grab the head as instructed, then discreetly pulls a fistful of 'dragon-nip' and press it gently up to the Gronkle's nose. It immediately stops struggling and goes weak in the knees. I then drop the handful of 'dragon-nip' to the ground.

The Gronkle goes down with it, whimpering and blissful. From Gobber and the recruits' point of view, I am controlling the Gronkle with no more than a limp arm.

Afterwards, the others give up asking me how I did it and decided to go in a different direction.

"So… Hiccup, where's ya shadow today?" Astrid said, her voice sweet but it had a edge to it that made me feel uneasy.

"Yeah, Hiccy!" Snotlout joined in, "Y'know the 'Och aye! I dun 'ave any brains 'cus I am befriendin' yoo!' one?"

"Hey! Don't pick on her!" I argued. "And anyways, you wouldn't if she was here, you're blimin' terrified her." I smirked as Snotlout faltered. "Actually… The only person brave to take her on out you would be Astrid; the rest of you would be complete cowards!" I crossed my arms and waited for their response.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut shared a look and glared at me. "_You_ don't have the right to call _us_ the cowards or weak!" They snarled.

"Well, who just successfully triumphed in subduing a Gronckle?" I smirk slightly and walked off, leaving the others to stare at me, shocked at my growing confidence.

Fishlegs suddenly shouted: "Who did ya do it? I've never seen a dragon taken down like that?"

I quickly make up an excuse, "I, uh, left my weapon behind by accident, so I made it up as I went along… I must have a talent." I shrugged and quickly declined their invitation to the Trainees meal. "Sorry, can't go, you guys go on ahead and I'll catch up with you later, if I find the time."

Astrid watches, suspicious as I jog off.

* * *

_**The Cove**_

I rub Toothless behind the ear, causing him to relax and fall over. I hear a twig snap.

I whip round and see Merida, just like she was this morning.

"Oh!" I exclaim. "Merida, nice to see ya, how did the meeting go-oh!" I am caught by surprise when Merida envelops me in a hug.

"Thank ye, Hiccup…" She says sincerely, not pulling away.

"F-for wh-what?" I stammer, controlling my blushing, but my ears must be bright red.

Merida pulls away to face me, but her arms are still around my neck. "For defendin' me, silly, back at th' arena! Ye stood up for me, like a true mukker should. An' ye left 'em speechless, which is a bonus!" She laughed happily and I joined in.

"What the heck is a 'mukker'?" I ask, still laughing, as Merida pulls away completely.

"It is a term for 'friend', of which, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, ye most certainly are!" She answered. "Now tae get rid of this sinful much!" She said with finality as she kneeled by the lake and washed the powder and coating off her face. I sat next to her and Toothless lay down beside me. "Oh, one thing though…" Merida said, facing me.

"What?" I asked and Toothless made a curious 'humph?' sound.

"Revenge!" She exclaimed and before I could question her the lukewarm lake water engulfed me. I swam to the surface, gasping and glaring at the red head.

"Really?! Was that necessary, at all?!" I shouted and Merida, through her snickers and little snorts, shrugged and calmed down enough to form words.

"Hey, I almost died hittin' tha' water on th' end of a _dragon tail_!" She stated. "An' tha' was _yer_ fault!"


	10. The Successful Flight and Suspicion

_**A/N: Hi guys! Here is an update. Nothing to say really except the action will be here soon! Oh! Also, thank you so much for all your support and reviews! I am almost one hundred reviews and never expected one of my stories was capable of that, so it means a lot to me, and I am considering doing a Sequel. I most likely will, but I want to know if you'll like it, so I'm going to put a Poll on my profile for you to choose whether to get a preview at the first chapter or leave it as a surprise. Thanks again!**_

_**Disclaimer: Don't own.**_

_**Read and Enjoy.**_

* * *

_**Next day, an hour later- Third P.O.V.**_

Astrid had many talents, but also had many flaws. One of her flaws was loathing anything she couldn't do better than someone. One of her talents was holding an impressive grudge. Her grudge toward towards Hiccup beating her was showcased as Astrid furiously hurled her axe at a nearby tree.

Then, purely by chance, she noticed Hiccup walking by in the distance, carrying one of his trademark harnesses. She quickly tried to follow, but he lost her in the woods.

She huffs in frustration. _This isn't fair! He is a puny weakling! He has to be cheating!_ Astrid thought, desperate for an explanation for her failure. She growled as she stormed off.

_**With Hiccup-Hiccup's P.O.V.**_

I strap a newly designed harness onto Toothless. With Toothless tied to a nearby post with a rope. I attempt to ride him in the air- while stationary. Toothless looks like a giant kite tied to a tree stump. This harness seems to work and I begin to mentally praise myself.

Then the rope breaks and we are sent flying-literally. We cut through the air for a few seconds and finally crash into a tree. My face is burning red.

"Oh… Great…" I grumbled to myself.

* * *

_**Night- Hiccup's P.O.V**_

The streets are empty save for a lone Viking who crosses mine and Merida's path.

"Hiccup. Merida." He nods in each of our direction, acknowledging us and we nod politely in response, trying to look casual, although we shocked he recognised us, he is so drunk. Once the coast is clear, we covertly steers Toothless into the Blacksmith's stall and Toothless presses himself inside eagerly, rooting through stuff and making a racket.

"Oh, Toothless!" Merida shouts in a whisper, pulling him back. "Dun' do tha', this is a _secret_! The Vikin's will kill ye if they catch ye!" This calmed him down and I took note of how Toothless intelligence was improving at a quick rate.

"Hiccup?" A voice outside calls out and Merida and Toothless whipped their heads around and freeze with alarmingly similar facial expressions of shock and fear.

I just freeze in the spot. Then frantically tries to pry the ring off the saddle hook. It won't budge. Damn! Maybe if I quickly do it, we can sneak out…

"Are you in there?" She calls out again. Too late - she's right outside. Walking to the door, probably.

I mouth a quick '_Hold on' _to Merida and proceed to jump out of the window and close the shutters behind me to hide the candle light. I don't realise until it's too late that the harness line is stretched through the window, still attached to Toothless' saddle.

I jog toward Astrid. "Hey! Hi Astrid. Hi Astrid. Hi Astrid." I call out, stopping her as she stand in front of the door.

"I normally don't care what people do," _Brilliant people skills as usual_, I think and realise it's the first bad thing I've ever said about her. "But you're acting weird. Well, _weirder_." I fight the urge to roll my eyes.

* * *

_**Meanwhile, with Toothless and Merida-Third Person.**_

Toothless spots a nearby sheep and makes a move toward it and Merida realises that harness line is still is stretched and goes through the crack in the shutters. She tries to grab him back but spurs him on and, as a result, Hiccup is suddenly pulled tight against the window shutters, she knows from the resonating _THUD! _She barely hears Astrid's footsteps going towards him as she imagines him striking an awkward pose, to compensate... but her train of thought gets cut off when Hiccup gets pulled through the shutters. They snap back in Astrid's face. She runs to the door and opens it silently, knowing they only had a few seconds at most before Astrid composed herself.

Out of the corner of her eye she sees Astrid reopens them and finds nothing but an empty stall. But her, Hiccup and Toothless are now safe in the distance as they slip off unseen.

* * *

_**The docks- Dawn. Third Person P.O.V**_

A lone, battered ship is pulled into a slip, overloaded with equally battered-looking men. They disembark to a crowd of onlookers, looking like a team of hometown heroes who just had their butts kicked.

Gobber hobbles through the mumbling crowd to find Stoick and Fergus- last to disembark and glowering with battered pride.

"Where are the other ships?"

"You don't want to know." Spitelout calls out mournfully.

Stoick lumbers past Gobber, leaving him staring at the trashed ship. Fergus pats him on the shoulder and they share a silence only two leaders who had lost their men could share.

Stoick sighed and shrugged Fergus's hand off. "Go see ya family, Fergus. Word'll spread of the dead, they'll worry.

"Well, I trust you found the nest at least?" Gobber spoke up.

"Not even close." Stoick almost growled.

"Ah, excellent." Gobber said with sad eyes.

Gobber followed Stoick up the ramp and snagged his duffle bag with his hook appendage, sharing the burden as best he could.

"I hope you had a little more success than me." Stoick states.

"Well, if by success, you mean that your parenting troubles are over with, then... _yes_." Gobber informs him, careful to choose the right words.

Stoick halted. "What does that mean?"

A group of merry villagers rush past.

"Congratulations Stoick! Everyone is so relieved." One shouts, laughing.

"Out with the old and in with the new, right?!"

"No one will miss that old nuisance!"

"The village is throwing a party to celebrate!"

Stoick is stunned, overwhelmed by the insensitivity. He turns to Gobber.

"He's... gone?" Stoick asks slowly.

"Yeah. Most afternoons, with that Princess Merida girl." Gobber tells him, smiling. "But who can blame him? I mean the life of a celebrity is very rough. He can barely walk through the village without being swarmed by his new fans." He laughs happily.

Stoick is doubly confused. "Hiccup?" He wants to make sure this is the correct child he is being told about.

"Who would've thought, eh? He has this...way with the beasts." He beams, proud. Stoick is still in shock but chuckles with pride.

* * *

_**Afternoon-Hiccup's P.O.V**_

Toothless, Merida and I soar through a perfect blue sky. I steer the somewhat tamed dragon and Merida sat behind me, arms wrapped around my waist as I had accidentally miscalculated the size of saddle, so it would seat three, not just two.

Billowing clouds rise like mountains. The ground seems miles below them. Merida woops and laughs happily

"Okay there bud, we're gonna take this nice and slow." I instruct Toothless.

I got to check a leather cheat sheet, clipped on to the harness. Inscribed upon it are several tail positions and their pedal position equivalents.

"Here we go. Here we go...position three- no four." I shout before the wind carries it.

I press the pedal, causing the tail to flare. They roll off into an arcing bank, gloriously lit by the late afternoon sun. Merida clings to me and her fiery curls fly back like flames.

I tuck tight against my neck, thrilled that this new harness and vest are holding. The foot controls make the tail appendage quick and responsive. I watch Toothless' every fluctuation, trying to match it with the prosthetic. I try to size up a target - a towering arch of stone, rising from the unreliable sea.

"Alright, it's go time. It's go time." I mumble to myself and Merida moves about excitedly.

"Can't wait, Hiccup! Let's do it!" She laughs giddily.

We dive toward it, lining up to pass through the arch.

"Come on. Come on buddy. Come on buddy!" I yell out, grinning.

We zip through the arch. The perfect manoeuvre.

"Yes, it worked!" Merida and I exclaim, and she exhales somewhat shakily and the warm breath hits the back of my neck and I stiffen slightly.

The triumph is short-lived. We then proceed to smack into one of several sea stacks as I try to keep up with the fast and odd turns.

"Sorry." I mumble to Toothless.

We hurtle into another rock pillar. Toothless grumbles.

"My fault." I get louder. Toothless swats me with his 'ear' plate.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm on it!" I yell nervously and try to refer to the cheat sheet.

"Position four-no-no-three! Position three!" Merida shouts to me, looking over my shoulder.

We pierce the clouds. For the first time, Merida and I can see the whole of the island below us and we look down at it in pure awe. It shrinks with every passing second. I swallow hard and tighten my grip on the handles and find Merida is gripping my wrists, which makes me stifle a laugh and smile.

"Yeah, go baby! Yes! Och, this is amazin'! The win' in my..."

She trails off and spots the leather guide tearing free in the turbulence.

"The cheat sheet!" I yell and try to grab frantically for the airborne sheet... "No! Stop!" I yell out again... and nab it before it's carried out of reach. Toothless, however, obeys the command and suddenly stops beating his wings.

As they slow to a stop, I go weightless. The rings of my vest float off of the harness hooks. I suddenly find myself detached, free-falling. Merida right behind me, falling back-first and screaming.

"Oh gods! Oh no!" We yell together, hating the idea of death.

Without me, the tail loses control. All three of us spiral downward. Toothless fights to get back under us.

I try to soothe Toothless. "Alright, okay. You just gotta kinda angle yourself." He goes the wrong way. "No, no...come back down towards me. Come back down—" I extend my arms and legs, giving myself as much surface area as I can. I grab a hold of Merida's hands and together we angle back towards Toothless as the tumbling dragon whacks me with his wing, knocking the wind out of me and making me take Merida with, her eyes wide.

After a few more misses, I finally grab hold of the harness and manage to lock in- Merida as well- just in time to pull Toothless out of his dive... barely shy of the tree tops. We careen passed the wooded cliff and directly into a treacherous slalom course of jutting sea stacks. I pull the cheat sheet from my teeth and attempts to check positions. It flaps violently in the turbulence, making it impossible to read.

With no time to think, I throw it away and find Merida's hand on my, helping me with the steers of Toothless' tail on instinct... with perfect intuition mixed together. Together, we manage a tight, hair-raising series of split-second turns, making it to the open water, unscathed. We suck in deep breaths and glance back at the death-defying obstacle course, now safely behind them. We beam and laugh happily as we beam at our success, relieved. We sit back and throw my arms up in victory while Merida claps loudly.

"YEEAHHH!" I shout.

Toothless concurs with a happy squeal and a fireball. My glee turns to dread as we fly directly into it.

It is almost gone, but some flames remain and catch my face.

"Ah, c'mon!" I grumble and Merida giggles and snorts lightly, then yawns, the adrenaline wearing off, and rests her head on my shoulder and snuggles against my neck, drifting into sleep. Thankfully, as this meant she couldn't see my wide eyes and blushing cheeks. I gulp. _Thor have mercy on me…_ I prayed and kept gaze on the horizon. But orange still flutters into my peripheral vision. I gulp. _What the heck is happening to me_? I wondered.


	11. The Return and the Dillema

_**A/N: Ooh! I Spy With My Little Eye Something Beginning With... H, Z, I, A, U!**_

_**Can't get it? Well I'll tell you: Holy Zeus, It's An Update!**_

_**IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT... Sort of...: This is a filler, but that aside, it dedicated to AzianDemigod16 for being Canadianly Awesome and doing a bunch of tests! And leaving a random stuffed animal toy at her school, haha Also, it is also dedicated to each and everyone of you guys for reading, reviewing and showing me support, I mean, you have gotten me to over 100 reviews, and it makes me so happy, so, I am tempted to do a little contest. You can give me ideas as to what that contest will could be. I will tell you what it is once I have decided, next chapter!**_

_**Well, I hope you enjoy.**_

* * *

_**Black sand beach-Merida's P.O.V**_

Hiccup, Toothless and I lounge on a sprawling, deserted beach, snacking of freshly caught fish. As Hiccup cooks his over a fire, Toothless suddenly regurgitates a fish head. Hiccup smirks with forced politeness.

"Uh… No thanks." He says sheepishly, gesturing to his fish on a stick. "I'm good." I chuckle as he tries to subtly push the fish away, as to not offend him.

Several Terrible Terrors land like seagulls, hissing and nipping at each other as they approach Toothless' pile of fish. One grabs the regurgitated fish head and drags it away and another attempts to steal it from him. They face off and last fire balls at each other to settle the fight and we watch, amused. That is until Toothless spots one of his fish leaving the pile. A stealthy Terrible Terror is exposed as the thief. They tug on the fish, and it snaps back into Toothless' mouth. He swallows it back tauntingly.

Irate, the little dragon paws at the ground and blast Toothless. He opens his mouth, the gas hiss comes, and Toothless fires a tiny flame straight into its mouth, causing the gas to backfire into the little dragon. It coughs up smoke and staggers away, looking ill.

Hiccup and I laugh, applauding Toothless who bows his head. I crawl towards him and tickle his nose

"Who's a guid boy, hmm? That's right mah adorable weapon ay mass destruction, _ye are_, _aren't ye_?" I coo and ignore Hiccups odd looks he sends my way.

Hiccup laughs and shrugs it off, then turns his attention to the Terror. "Not so fireproof on the inside, are you?" Hiccup throws the hapless Terror his freshly cooked fish. "Here you go."

The appreciative little dragon gulps down the meal and approaches Hiccup cautiously. He curls up next to him. Hiccup and I are amazed. Hiccup is pensive, "everything we know about you guys is wrong." Hiccup carefully pets him, sending the Terror into an immediate, blissful sleep.

"It's insane how wee we knae 'bout them, ye ken we're basically goin' off predictions an' untrustworthy sources." I added as an afterthought, "We're makin' up as we go along!"

Hiccup just smiles at me. "Agreed, my dear princess, now, I think it's time we go home." He stands up and offers me his hand, which I take.

"Home?" I smile, an eyebrow raised.

He pauses for a moment, then flushes. "Oh, yeah-well-you know what I mean, Merida!"

I snort as I laugh at his embarrassment. "'Course, Hiccup! Ye lucky I do, though" I elbow him playfully and he jokingly grabs me into a sideways hug.

"Ah, yes, how true Merida, and that is exactly why I love you so much." He laughs and I join in, attempting to ignore how the word 'love' made my stomach churn… In a good way?

* * *

_**That night in the Blacksmiths stall- Hiccup's P.O.V**_

I am lost in thought; my head led of a desk in the Blacksmiths. I am by myself because I didn't feel it was right to wake Merida up. The desk is full of Toothless drawings, and I am feeling like I am burdened with the weight of the world. Suddenly, my father appears in the doorway. I jump and quickly cover up my desk.

"Dad!" I exclaim, feeling happy, nervous and dreadful all at once. "You're back!" I skirt the bench, blocking my father's view of Toothless, the prosthetic fin, and other drawings. I need to get rid of him. "Gobber's not here, so..." I say in an awkward attempt to get rid of him, pairing my odd tone of voice with striking an equally awkward pose in an attempt to look casual, trying to cover up as much as possible.

My father smiles at me. "I know. I came looking for _you_." He tells me.

I am caught off guard. "Y-You did?" I ask.

"You've been keeping secrets." He tells me simply, looking ster.

My legs choose this _exact_ moment to give out. I slide, dragging the table's contents with me.

I cough, not knowing what to say. "I... have?" I try to act nonchalant.

"Just how long did you think you could hide it from me?" He asks.

I look at him warily. I try to cover my tracks in vain. "I don't know what you're..."

"Nothing happens on this island without me hearing about it."

"_Oh?_" I ask, my voice raising a few octaves.

"So." He sounds beaten. "Let's talk about that dragon." I literally feel the blood drain from my face.

I immediately go into panic mode "Oh gods. Dad I'm so sorry. I was going to tell you. I just didn't know how to-" I am cut off by my father beginning to laugh. Big, booming laughter. I stare at him, baffled. "You're not...upset?"

It's my father's turn to look baffled. "_What_?! I was hoping for this!" He beams at me.

"Uh... You were?"

"And believe me, it only gets better! Just wait 'til you spill a Nadder's guts for the first time!" He tells me excitedly and I feel my elated expression sink. It only gets worse. "And mount your first Gronckle head on a spear. _What a feeling_!" Stoick laughs and smacks Hiccup on the shoulder, sending him into the wall. "You really had me going there, son. All those years of the worst Viking Berk has ever seen! Odin, it was rough. I almost gave up on you!"

I slowly get back up, grimacing in the irony of it all.

"And all the while, you were holding out on me! _Thor almighty_!" He grabs a stool and sits. His massive frame nearly fills the tiny room. "Ah. With you doing so well in the ring, we finally have something to talk about!" What follows is a long pause. I avert my eyes nervously. My father adjusts, awkwardly clearing his throat. After a long, uncomfortable silence he looks like he remembers something. "Oh, I... brought you something." He presents a horned helmet. "To keep you safe in the ring."

I gape at it for a moment before looking up at my father. "Wow. Thanks." I say sincerely whilst I accept it, looking it over.

"Your mother would've wanted you to have it." He sounds heartfelt and honest. It is strange seeing this side to him. "It's half of her breast plate." He then taps his own helmet and smiles. "Matching set. Keeps her close, y'know?"

I eye the mismatched helmets, grimacing although I want to be thankful and proud of my achievements and how far I have come… But getting to this point came with consequences, and those consequences were getting to know these dragons.

He looks at me sternly. "Wear it proudly. You deserve it. You've held up your end of the deal." He is beaming with pride. I squirm, then cleverly force a yawn.

"I should really get to bed. If I leave it too long, Merida will think I am a weirdo and try killing me, which she probably could." I laugh nervously.

We begin to talk over one another and I end the circle by saying. "Thanks for the... the uh, urm, the hat. Breast hat."

"Well… Uh… Good night." My father says slowly, slightly confused by the outburst.

He leaves the room awkwardly, leaving me looking and feeling more burdened than ever and I leave too after a few minutes.

I enter the house slowly and tiptoe up the stairs, but by the time I reach my door, my energy is drained from me and I enter my room sluggishly.

It takes me a moment to realise the candle hasn't been blown out. I look around the room and finally see the tornado of curls at my desk. I hear distinctive scribbling sounds and decide to clear my throat to get her attention.

She jumps slightly. "Oh, Hiccup! There you are" She has light bags under her eyes for staying up so late. "Look what I did though!" She holds up a scroll of paper landscape to show me a drawing of a hill and large pieces going around it in a makeshift circle. Behind it is a forest with a girl and a horse stood at the edge of it.

"What is it?" I ask, amazed. It isn't perfect, but it conveys emotion and memories. I can tell from the excitement and passion for it in her voice and expression. I smile at her.

She points to the stones. "It's… Well, I don't knae th' name for it, really, but it's a magical place near my home. Behind tha' is the forest where Ah practise archery." She points the horse and girl. "Tha' is Angus, me 'orse and _that_ is… Me." Her eyes are beaming with pride. Then she shrugs and puts it down. "It's nowhere near as good as yoors, it's just… I wanted tae have a go… Ah was gonnae tae give up, but… Then Ah spilt ink on me and decided Ah had tae at least prove tae myself Ah could finish." She gestured to the black splotches on the white nightgown.

I dismiss her statement of it being bad. "It's wonderful, Merida, honestly. You don't have to compare it. If you love it and are proud of it, then it's perfect." I smile and she returns it.

"Well, Ah guess we should go tae bed now, eh, Hiccup?" She says as she walks across the room and clambers into her bed.

"Good idea… But can I confess something?"

"Sure, Hiccup, what's it 'bout?" She asks softly. I climb into my own bed and stare at the ceiling as I tell her what went on with my father. She doesn't respond for a while.

"Merida?" I ask, slightly worried.

"Ye won't dae it, Ah knae ye won't Hiccup." She said with finality, although I could hear the unease in her voice. "Right Hiccup?" She asked, with a tone somewhat nervous.

I paused and thought it over, then finally sighed. "I don't know. I need to figure a way out. I can't do this, but I can't just go up to my father and go: '_Oh! Heh-hey father! How ya doin' today? Eaten a good breakfast? Had fun at that pillage? Oh I am so happy you're finally proud of me, but just so ya know: I love dragons to bits and even have one as a pet, so I cannot go through with this deed that will gain me eternal respect from my peers_!'" I said in a distressed voice.

"Yeah, well, Hiccup, we're gonnae dae summat, got it? Now go tae sleep. Sweet dreams." She yawned and tucked herself into bed to sleep. "Ye best get tae bed or else, Hiccup!" She growled in a quiet yet very threatening voice.

"Okay, okay!" I moaned and sighed heavily, directing the air to the candle, blowing it out. "Nuh-night, dear Princess."

"Nuh-night my dragon tamer in fur armour."


	12. The Broken Nose and The Discovery

_**A/N: I decided to give you guys until the next chapter to give me suggestions for the competition, so don't be afraid to do so!**_

_**Oh yeah, this story will be ending soon *sobsob*, but I am definitely doing a sequel! You may applaud me! And, just so you know, the inspiration for this quick update was me thinking: 'Hmmm, you know what I haven't done for a while? Wrote a way too effin' long chapter! Let's do this crap!'**_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

___**The training grounds- afternoon- Third Person P.O.V**_

A Gronckle hovers above the ring, hunting victims as the teen recruits scramble. Astrid ducks behind a barrier to find Hiccup already there with Merida by his side, grinning wildly and bouncing on her tip-toes from excitement.

Astrid forces her axe at Merida's throat. "Stay out of my way! I'm winning this thing!" She snarls and Merida's grin never falters. "Please, by all means." She replies calmly, only angering Astrid further, although she swears she hears her say "_Ye wee loony_" as an afterthought.

Astrid quickly brushes it off and darts off, closing in fast on the dragon. The crowd above cheers her on.

A Scot above hollers, "You got it Astrid!"

Merida and Hiccup simply stand and look around. Amidst the crowd of onlookers, Stoick watches keenly, beaming with pride. He locks eyes with Hiccup, giving him a nod of encouragement. Hiccup adjusts his new helmet and forces a half-hearted smile and Merida pats his arm subtly and smiles reassuringly at him.

However, unbeknownst to Hiccup, the Gronckle spots them and makes a bee-line toward them.

As she catches her breath behind a barrier, Astrid scowls and growls lowly from frustration and finds herself improved by the anger. She is more focused; more determined.

"This time." She mutters to herself. "This time for _sure_." With a fierce battle cry she leaps from cover, axe cocked to throw. "Aaah… _Huh_?!" As she clears the barriers, she sees that Hiccup and the princess have already laid the Gronckle out. "What?! ARGH! No! _No_!" She begins to throw, what her too-many-greats-to-write-down-grandchildren will call a _hissy fit_.

Hiccup shrugs, as unhappy with the situation as she is, whereas Merida smirks at her, sadistically enjoying Hiccup's crush lose it and snickers a few time, making Hiccup elbow her side softly, although he fights a smile. Merida's laughter is infectious, even in small amounts.

"No, _no, _no! _Son of a Half-troll, rat-eating __**munge bucket**_!" She screeches, beginning to go blood red in the face from anger.

A loud _**clack!**_rings out. From the crowd above, Gothi, the village elder, steps forward, tapping her staff, to which everyone lights up excitedly.

"Wait!" Stoick calls out! "Wait!"

"So… later." Hiccup says nervously and tries backing away.

"Yeah, me too!" Merida smiles graciously and walks backwards, but trips on the hem of her dress, making her fall back. "Woah!"

Gobber catches her and snags Hiccup as he attempts to leave.

"Not so fast." He murmurs. "You lovebirds can leave in a minute." He snickers to himself as the two teens begin to blush from embarrassment, eyes wide.

"I'm kinda late for-" Hiccup starts, but Merida slyly stands on his foot to shut him up, knowing he'll only make things worse.

"_What_? Late for _what_ exactly, Hiccup!?" Astrid seethes, still very much livid and sends a demonic glare in Merida's direction, who just sends a small curtsey and a smirk back.

Stoick holds out his hands to silence the jabbering crowd.

"Okay quiet down. The elder has decided." Stoick bellows.

Thrilled, Gobber stands behind Hiccup, Merida and Astrid. He points to Astrid as the crowd waits in silent anticipation. Gothi shakes her head, signalling _no_. The crowd 'Oohs.'

Gobber then points to Hiccup. The elder nods an affirmative 'yes.' The crowd erupts in cheers, but the elder raises her veiny and wrinkled arm to silence them. Gobber looks confused and slowly points to Merida and the elder nods again and the Vikings in the crowd gasp, stunned, but soon cheer and the Scots, feeling obligated, soon join in.

"What?" Elinor calls to her husband. "What does this mean?" She asks, not understanding.

"Oh Elinor!" Fergus whispers in his naturally cheery tone. "It means tha' both Hiccup an' Merida 'ave been chosen tae defeat their first dragon by themselves! A Scot an' a Vikin' will worked taegether as an homage tae our truce, which may become permanent" His smile falters when he sees his wife's horrified and terrified expression and murmurs, "Love, Ah am worried tae, but we cannae go against the elder's wishes, it would be like destroyin' our shrines tae our ancestors back 'ome. We cannae dae it." He looks into her eyes for a moment and she slowly begins to nod, although reluctant.

Astrid turns a seething, deadly glare on the Viking and the Scot.

Gobber is oblivious to the pair's lack of enthusiasm and laughs in a jolly fashion. "You've done it! You've done it, you two! You get to kill the dragon!" He exclaims, beaming with pride.

"Ha, ha! That's my boy!" Stoick shouts down at him as Merida and Hiccup is hoisted onto the recruits' shoulders and carried out to the cheering spectators.

The two mask their panic with relative ease; they have become expert liars lately. "Heh, heh. Oh yeah!" Hiccup yells and laughs.

"Yes! I cannae wait tae slaughter the dragon!" Merida hollers and claps "I am so..." She trails off and she bites her lip, looking devastated. Hiccup looks at her and looks forwards again, and slowly but surely his hand finds Merida's and they comfort each other through their turmoil.

* * *

_**The hidden cove-Dusk-Hiccup's P.O.V**_

HICCUP

"Leaving. We're leaving. Let's pack up. Looks like you and me are taking a little holiday, forever." I call out but Toothless is nowhere in sight. Merida sets down the basket and opens it up, her head obviously clouded with troubles, much like mine.

"I dun't wan' ye tae go 'Iccup," she mumbles sadly, making her Scottish accent thicken and the words become a bit harder to decipher.

"Oh… Merida... I am so sorry…" I don't remember noticing her get up, but all of a sudden her arms are wrapped around my waist and her head is buried in the crook of my neck, the wooden handle of the bows handle digging into me softly. I instinctively wrap mine around her and rub her back gently and only now does it occur to me to wonder if I was really the only one out of us who had never had a friend before. I decide to try and comfort her. "But… But you have a chance to get out of th-" I begin, but then hear a distinct _**shink! **_I look up to the sound of... _**Astrid**_, sitting on the rock right in front of him, and is sharpening her axe.

"Argh!" Yell in shock and Merida jumps away in surprise, head-butting my chin as she does so. "What the-?!" I clear my throat and repeat myself, much calmer now and turn my attention on Astrid, to ignore how I miss the warmth. "What are you doing here?"

"Och, Hiccup!" Merida yells. "Why's the loony blonde 'ere?!" She glares at Astrid.

She hops off the rock and back him down, spinning her axe threateningly. My eyes dart around nervously, searching for Toothless and I see Merida begin to do the same.

Astrid returns Merida's glare and clears her throat. "I want to know what's going on. No one just gets as good as you do. Especially you." She points at me. "And no way can a pwetty wittle pwincess like Scottie over there do that either!" She exclaims and I see Merida pauses and slowly turn to Astrid and reach for an arrow to notch in her bow. My eyes widen and I shake my head, disguising it by messing with my hair. She snarls at her but puts the arrow back. Although the bow stays in her worryingly firm grip. "Actually, speaking of her. What's going with you two?" She steps back and examines us in detail.

"What d'ye mean, blondie?" Merida scoffs, rolling her eyes. I simply shift uncomfortably under Astrid's strong gaze.

Astrid smiles sweetly and lets out a quick laugh. "Well, princess, you and Hiccup do spend an _awful_ lot of time together… Plus you seem _very _fond of one another." She laughs as she takes in how taken aback me and Merida look. "You can play innocent all you want but there _is_ something going on between you two. The guys and I even began to think that Hiccup was actually _courting _you, Merida!" She snorts before recomposing herself and smirking happily.

I step forward as Merida is at a loss for words. "Astrid, there is nothing between us _at all_."

That doesn't go down as well as I thought it would. "Well, that means that something is _still _going on! There is no reason _anyone_ would want to be your friend Hiccup!" She sizes me up. "Start talking! Are you training with someone?"

"Uh... Training?" I am tempted to say Merida but I know she won't buy it. She grabs me by the harness.

"It better not involve... _this_." She warns me and grabs my shirt and lifts me off the ground. I gulp.

"I-I know this looks really bad, but you see... This is, uh..." I begin to stutter and Merida freezes, as if hearing something and whips her face in my direction, fear plastered all over it.

It's then we hear a rustle coming from the other side of the cove. Astrid drops me to the ground and sets off to investigate.

"You're right! Ye're right!" Merida and I exclaim, panicked as we chase after her.

"I'm through with the lies. We've been making... outfits." Hiccup yell in desperation. "So you got us."

Merida nods eagerly. "Mhmm! It's time to le' everyone knae. Drag us back. Go ahead. 'Ere we go." I put my hand back on my harness, getting her to 'drag me back.' Astrid simply bends my hand backwards, driving me down.

"Aurrgh!" I yell. "Why would you do that?!" I hiss in pain then feel her grip loosen involuntarily. I look up quickly and see her yelling incomprehensible words as she clutches her nose. I see a small trail of blood making its way to her mouth from her nose. I whip my head around to see Merida, still in a defensive stance, her fist still clutched and ready to throw another punch when or if needed. Her face is red from anger, which brings out her freckles, her eyebrows are scrunched up and her eyes are narrowed, whilst her mouth is set into a snarl again.

Astrid looks up at the princess in shock. I feel my eyes widen slightly. From the amount of blood pouring from her nostrils, Merida has definitely broken Astrids nose, without a doubt. Merida storms towards her and sizes her up. "Ah am _not_ the weak princess ye think Ah am, ye got tha' Blondie?" She spat at Astrid. "An' if ye ever dae tha' tae Hiccup again it will nae just be yer beak that's broken, ye got tha'?" As she said 'beak' she tapped her own nose softly and smiled sweetly. She waved her hand towards me. "_Now_, what should ye say tae Hiccup?" The smile never left her face as Astrid reluctantly walked towards me.

Her shoulders slumped and she sighed, before saying. "That's for the lies." Her voice was distorted and nasally because of her having to hold her nose with one hand to stop the bleeding, but she smirked slightly.

I hadn't gotten up yet and Astrid took advantage and tried to bounce the hilt of her axe off of my laid-out body. I wish I could say it didn't do much because she couldn't get enough strength into it, having to concentrate on her broken nose first before anything else, but Astrid is a Viking, so it would at least leave a small bruise. I saw Merida pause and raise her eyebrows at her, and then nod as if to say, '_The girls got guts, so I'll let her off this time_'.

"And _that's_ for everything else." Astrid informs me, smiling slightly, like you had to be close to her or be really looking for it to see. I was the first one. She pressed the handle against the bruising skin and I yelp.

My yelp is answered with a threatening, coming from the other side of the cove. Astrid looks up to see… A Night Fury, in all its glory. Toothless pounces towards us, snarling.

"Oh man." I mumble feebly. Astrid dives onto me.

"Get down! Run! Run!" Astrid commands us, but nor Merida or I move. Astrid pulls her axe, ready to take on Toothless. Merida and I decide now is the time to intervene.

"No!" We yell, panicked.

I knock Astrid's cocked axe to the ground, out of reach as Merida's sprints into action and stops Toothless short of crushing her.

"No. It's okay!" She calls out to Toothless soothingly. "It's okay..." Toothless pulls up short and lands hard, spraying Astrid with sand. She cautiously reaches for his snout and begins to stroke him in a calming fashion, his ears lower as it begins to take effect.

I see him look at me for confirmation and I nod. "She's a… friend." I tell him calmly. Toothless snorts in disagreement and Merida bite her lip, probably to keep her from agreeing with him, because that will end in Astrid's blood on her hands. _Wait, Astrid! _I remember and look at her, frantic.

Astrid is frozen. Toothless looks from her, to Merida, to me and back to her, confused.

"You just scared him." I tell her in a steady voice.

"I scared him!?" She exclaims. I shrug in a bemused manor.

I make a '_You need to be quiet or else you're dead_' motion.

"Who is _him_?" She hisses in an intense whisper.

Merida clears her throat. "Well… Astrid, meet Toothless." She points from Astrid to Toothless. "An' Toothless, meet Astrid." She introduces the two in the most nonchalant tone imaginable.

Astrid backs away, eyeing Merida, Toothless and I together with pure disgust. She turns and runs for the village.

"Huh… Well… We're dead." I say, accepting our fate. Merida glares at me.

"Oh great, am Ah the optimistic one out of us now?" She sighs and slaps herself in the face. Toothless, now satisfied with Astrid's departure, turns away.

I stomp my foot in order to get his attention, although it works for Merida too. "Where do you think you're going?" I ask, rhetorically. Toothless then proceeded to huff, look exhausted by the idea of doing something and collapsed dramatically.

I rolled my eyes and looked at Merida, who was stifling a laugh. This wouldn't be easy.

* * *

_**In the woods-Third person P.O.V**_

Astrid races through the trees. A large shadow overtakes her. She tries to speed up, although it's futile and is suddenly snatched into the air. Of course, in these situations, it is allowed for even a Viking to scream. And Thor almighty does Astrid scream

"Oh great Odin's ghost, this is it!" She cries out.

Hiccup, Merida and Toothless fly Astrid to the top of a towering pine. It bows and creaks under their weight as Astrid dangles a hundred feet in the air.

"Hiccup! Get me down from here!" She commands, trying to regain her dignity.

Merida leans to the side from behind Hiccup so Astrid can see her grinning. "'Ello! This was me own idea; thought it added affect!" Astrid looks at her and sees beyond the cocky grin and notices the panic and desperation to not be caught in her eyes. But the most noticeable thing is something both her and Hiccup share: Worry. _How can they worry-or care _at all _for that matter-for this gods damned _dragon_?! _She thinks, confused and outraged.

Hiccup ignores her and begins to speak. "You have to give me a chance to explain." He is basically begging her.

"I'm not listening to _anything_ you have to say!" She growls in defiance.

She hears Merida snort at her outburst and mutter, '_Ye dun't really 'ave a choice, considerin' yer position_'. Astrid feels her anger rise and blood begins to trickle down her nose again.

Hiccup sighs, not knowing what to do, but then gets an idea. "Then I won't speak. Just let me show you." He extends a hand. "Please, Astrid." He pleads and Astrid looks at Merida, whose expression now mirrors Hiccups almost perfectly.

Merida sighs and extends her pale arm out to her. "Please, Astrid." She looks into her eyes, trying to communicate how much she needed Astrid to agree silently.

Astrid eyes them and the dragon, then the ground far, far below. After a moment, she swats Hiccup's outstretched hand away and reluctantly climbs over the pedal, although she needs to take Merida's hand to reach the end and she settles in, hooking her feet into the oversized pedal on Merida's part of the saddle-like creation. She settles behind Merida, avoiding as much contact as possible.

"Now get me down." She says simply.

Hiccup nods, not looking at her. "Toothless?" He speaks and the dragon perks up at the mention of his name. "Down." He commands. "Gently." He adds for good measure.

Toothless leers mischievously, but was about to give in and follow the command. He actually might have, and who knows how this story might have gone? But, without Astrid or Hiccup noticing, Merida had unhooked her left foot and slyly kicked Toothless's side, as if you would a horse to get it to move. At this motion, he spreads his wings slowly. With a _**whop!**_ they fill with the updraft. Toothless releases the tree, tucks in his legs, and hovers in place.

"See? Nothing to be afraid of." Hiccup says calmly.

Toothless suddenly lurches straight upward. Astrid screams, Hiccup yells and Merida cackles with laughter.

The acceleration is tremendous. Every downbeat bucks the saddle, heaving them into the sky, doubling their speed like a rocket. Astrid is thrown backward. Her screams go up about two octaves and hugs Merida for dear life, squeezing the breath out of her.

"_Can't. Breath._" Merida wheezes and Astrid forces herself to loosen her grip slightly.

"Toothless!" Hiccup yells. "What is wrong with you?! Bad dragon!" He turn his attention to Astrid for a second, mortified. "He's not usually like this." Something catches his attention. "Oh no..."

"Toothless rolls and plummets toward the coastline far below. Now, all three of the teenagers scream. Toothless rockets over the ocean waves, deliberately dipping them in the froth.

"Toothless, what are ye doing?!" Merida yells. _This was _not _what I expected, _Merida screeches in her head. "We need her to like us! Or at least not 'ave 'er bee th' cause of an entire village of Vikin's and Scot wanting to _slaughter _us!"

Toothless rockets skyward and begins tumbling head over tail.

"_And_ now the spinning." Hiccup says loudly in a monotone. "Thank you for nothing you useless reptile." He says sarcastically and with a blank expression.

Astrid clamps her hand over her eyes, whereas Meridas eyes widen.

"Okay! I'm sorry!" Astrid hurriedly exclaims. "I'm sorry! Just get me off of this thing." Astrid is defeated, her aggressive energy gone. Satisfied, Toothless relents.

They level off and head up into the clouds. Astrid opens her eyes again, and looks out over a world she'd never dreamed of. She reaches out and touches clouds, pierces columns ablaze in golden hues, and floats over a vast, alien sky-scape. Her terror is replaced by wonder. She grins, despite herself. Merida turns to face her and grins.

"Not so bad, is it?" Merida never gets a reply, but Astrid's wonder-filled expression says all that needs to be said.

Toothless rises above a blanket of clouds.

* * *

_**Flying in the sky-night.**_

The levels of a starry sky come out from hiding. They emerge from a blanket of clouds under the dancing Northern Lights, shimmering in ribbons across the vast sky.

Below them, Berk's torches flicker in the inky darkness. The new perspective is breath-taking. Hiccup and Merida are also shocked by the sights, having never been up here for so long.

Astrid taps Merida on the shoulder and they begin to talk. Properly. They begin to find similar interests and, after Hiccup joins in with the conversation, joke around a bit and begin to get along more and more. The moment is not lost on any of them and all hope they may have made a new friend as the night goes on.

Hiccup smiles nervously when Merida yawns a rests her head on Hiccup's shoulder. Astrid doesn't miss it at all and smiles to herself, not intervening in the ignorance the other two shared.

Toothless climbs past Berk's tallest peaks and heads out over open water, leaving the village lights behind them.

After Merida straightens herself in the seat again, Astrid breaks the silence. "Alright I admit it. This is pretty cool. It's... amazing." She smiles, although she looks beat. "_He's_ amazing." Astrid carefully reaches down and pats Toothless' side. "So what now?" She asks, to which Hiccup groans. It's a problem without an answer.

"Hiccup, Merida. Your final exam is tomorrow. You know you're going to have to kill..." Astrid cuts herself off. A lump forms in her throat. Not like she's about to cry, but like something in her finds it now impossible to finish the sentence.

She sees Hiccup and Merida's posture slump "... Kill a dragon." They whisper together, sounding ashamed.

"Don't remind me." Hiccup mumbles.

"Same 'ere" Merida agrees.

A strange, unearthly din approaches. Toothless' ear plates suddenly stand on end. Panicked, he abruptly dives, dipping into cloud cover.

"Toothless! What's happening? What is it?" Hiccups fires the questions at Toothless, concerned. Toothless only barks at him. As if to say '_Quiet_!'

Suddenly, out of the dense cloud, a Monstrous Nightmare emerges.

"Get down!" Hiccup instructs them.

The trio duck. The Nightmare calls out. A Zippleback appears to the other side of Toothless, boxing him in.

"What's going on?" Astrid asks, perplexed.

"I don't know." Hiccup replies whilst Merida remains silent, looking on in a terrified curiosity. "Toothless. You've got to get us out of here, bud." Hiccup whispers to the Night Fury. Toothless hisses at him.

Other dragons, previously invisible in the thick clouds, appear all around them. Hundreds of them, all carrying fish and game in their talons.

"It looks like they're hauling in their kill." Hiccup whispers.

The Zippleback eyes them ravenously.

"What does that make us?" Astrid points out, worried.

The dragons bank and dive in formation, plummeting through the thickening fog and weaving between towering, craggy sea stacks.

They emerge at the base of a massive volcanic caldera, glowing with rivulets of lava. The flock of dragons fall into rank, funnelling through a crack, and zipping through a winding tunnel. It gives way to a vast, steamy inner chamber, tiered with pocky shelves. Dragons of all breeds lay about, nested in hordes.

The arriving dragons fly in, dropping the fish and game into a central pit, glowing red and shrouded in mist.

Hiccup is amazed.

"What my dad wouldn't give to find this." He and Merida mumble then look at each other.

"We dae tha' _way too much_ for me own likin'" Merida whispers and they leave it at that.

Toothless peels away from the procession, landing on a small shadowy shelf to keep a low-profile. The trio peek around, taking in the busy hive of sorts. They watch as the food continues to be dropped into the pit.

"It's satisfying to know that all of our food has been dumped down a hole." Hiccup admitted, sarcastically.

"They're not eating any of it." Astrid sounded confused more than anything.

Last to arrive is a dim-witted Gronckle. It hovers over the pit and regurgitates his paltry contribution- a pathetic little fish. As it falls into the steamy pit, a terrible roar rings out.

The Gronckle tries to flee, but before it can, a gargantuan dragon head juts from the steamy pit and snaps it out of the air, swallowing its entire being whole.

The teens recoil, terrified.

"What _is_ that?" Astrid whispers, growing increasingly worried.

The monstrous beast sniffs the air, seemingly aware of them.

It nears the ledge where Toothless is hiding and roars, striking fear into anything that heard it. Several dragons take flight in fear.

Hiccup knew that enough was enough now. "Alright buddy, we gotta get out of here. Now!" Toothless takes flight, barely evading the monster's snapping jaws. The behemoth dragon lunges for them, snatching a Zippleback out of the air instead.

Toothless disappears into the winged exodus as thousands of dragons flee the caldera in fear.

Merida feels her hair and finds that part of her curly red locks has been singed off. "We could've _died _then!" She exclaims, eyes wide in fear and shock.

"Well. Let's distract ourselves from that terrifying event," Astrid said, her voice cracking and shaking. "Let's talk about what we'll tell our parents when they ask us where we've been!" She attempts a smile.

Hiccup and Merida whip their heads around in her direction, the fear in their expressions seeming to increase. "That isn't _less_ terrifying!" They shout at her.

"_We need to stop doin' that_!" They yell again, exasperated.


	13. The Decision and the Wee Devils

**_A/N: Here is an update!_**

**_It's a filler. Woop woop!_**

**_Also, here is the COMPETITION!_**

**_If you guess the month and day (like the 13th of June. I am not doing the year because I don't want to.) I was born on really close. You will win:_**

**_A sneak peek for either: my How To Be Brave Sequel. Or you can choose a sneak peek at a future story I plan to write called Guardians of the Elements (A RotG/Brave/HTTYD/Tangled cross-over)_**

**_If you get it EXACTLY right you will get that and you own OC which you will design/make up yourself and I will put it in the story you choose to get a preview of (it won't be a main character, really, but it'll be a character still, so woohoo!)_**

**_Only the FIRST TEN reviews will count for this competition, so hurry and good luck!_**

* * *

_**Back at the Hidden Cove-night-Merida's P.O.V**_

Toothless glides into the cove and touches down on the moonlit beach.

I can see the cogs in Astrid's mind reeling, and she's babbling mine and Hiccup's ears off. "No, no, it totally makes sense!" She gushes. "It's like a giant beehive. They're the workers... and that's their queen. It controls them." She leaps off of Toothless. I slide off and begin to pat Toothless. I felt him shaking slightly himself and decided to comfort him.

Only now do I notice Astrid is running to the forest, heading for the village. I gasp and my words catch in my throat. "Let's find your dad." She says, scrambling again the rocks.

"No, no!" Hiccup exclaims, waving his arms about. I don't join in, knowing Toothless needs someone to keep him calm or else, who knows what could happen. "Not yet. They'll... _kill_ Toothless." His posture deflates and he begins to sound beat. I wrap my arms around Toothless as much as I can and look at Astrid, not caring how desperate I may look. "Astrid, we have to think this through _carefully_." Astrid eyes us, incredulously.

"Hiccup," She starts slowly, "we just discovered the _dragons' nest_... The thing we've been after since Vikings first sailed here!" With each sentence she becomes more exasperated. "And you want to keep it a secret? To protect your _pet dragon_? Are you _serious_?" I glare at her fiercely, but feel my expression soften. I'm not being fair to her. Astrid may be a Viking; all she wants is to protect her home from harm. Hiccup and I may care deeply about Toothless, but Astrid cares about Berk equally as much. However, Hiccup still stands firm, resolute.

"Yes." He says simply and I smile. Maybe me not interfering wasn't a bad thing, I think, Hiccup needs to learn to stand up for himself more.

Astrid is noticeably taken aback. I am confused slightly, even though she knows he would pick Toothless over Berk any day. I see an odd emotion gleam in her eyes as she quickly darts her eyes from Hiccup to Toothless and I and then back to Hiccup. Then it hits me: jealousy.

Not '_I love you, why would do this to me?!_' jealousy, but '_Those two are enemies in the end, why are you picking them over __**me**__?!_'

I feel my chest tighten in anger as I realise something: _Astrid __**knows**__ Hiccup has a crush on her!_ But she had never seen him as someone she would ever be interested in, which, in all fairness, _is_ okay. I see her act different around him now, the possibility of friendship there, but there was the expectation that, because of Hiccup's infatuation, he would follow her like a lamb. And that _isn't_ okay.

I watch her maul over this for a few minutes. She finally sighed in defeat. "Okay." She looks confused. "Then what do we do?" She asks.

Hiccup begins to play with his fingers absent-mindedly. "Just give me until tomorrow."

I decide I should speak up now. I clear my throat and walk into line with Hiccup. "Trust us. We'll figure summat owt." I promise her. She bites her lip, conflicted.

"Okay." Astrid says with finality. She walks up to us and punches Hiccup and I in the arm. She turns me. "That's for _this_," she gestures to her nose that still has dry blood around it, but she can make up a heroic lie up about how it happened. She looks at Hiccup. "That's for kidnapping me."

Hiccup looks to Toothless and I for support. Toothless and I simply snort, dismissive.

Astrid grabs us, one hand on my left shoulder and another Hiccup's right shoulder. We brace for another hit. She hugs us and pulls away with lightning speed.

"That's for…" She looks for a word to describe what has happened these past few hours. "Everything else." She decides is the fitting phrase.

In the awkward wake of the moment, Astrid hurries off, leaving me looking at Hiccup with an amused expression as he rubs his burning cheeks, stunned. A part of me feels angered and sorry for him at the same time. I want him to be happy, but I don't trust Astrid to use what power she has over him for good.

Toothless hobbles up to us, eyeing us carefully.

"What are you looking at?" He asks the dragon, who narrows his eyes at him in a '_duh!_' fashion. He turns to me and groans, "What are _you_ looking at?"

I scoff loudly. "Och aye, well maybe its tae dae wi' those rosy cheeks yer sportin' over there!" I cackle loudly. I clear my throat and prepare myself. "Oh Hiccup let me love through th' power of a hug!" I imitate Astrid's voice and dramatically run in slow motion to Hiccup, my arms spread. I take him into a hug and laugh, but I freeze, remembering how I had hugged him early. I back away quickly and see from his expression he's thinking of the same thing.

"W-we should get going, really, shouldn't we?" He stammers.

I nod, then turn my attention on Toothless. "Mhmm, yeah, we should, Hiccup." I jog to Toothless and pat him quickly then begin to make my way to Hiccup's house.

When we get in we are greeted by our parents waiting for us, stern expressions set on their faces.

"Hello, Merida, hello Hiccup" my mother and father greet.

"Hi Hiccup; hello Merida." Stoick says, although you can still see the pride for his son in his eyes.

"Hi," we reply and grimace. We _really_ need to stop doing that!

"Take a seat." My mother tells us formally and we oblige. She takes a breath and turns to my father, who shifts uncomfortably.

"Merida… Hiccup. It has come to our attention that your relationship has become, quite… _Intimate_." My father is red in the face from embarrassment and so are Hiccup and myself.

"No, no, _no_! It _really_ is _not_ like that! Honestly!" I exclaim, petrified they would even think that.

Stoick raises an eyebrow suggestively, but my mother glares at him darkly and he becomes serious again. "Really, now? Okay then, well, what do you two _do_ when you sneak off into the forest of the Blacksmiths Stall together any chance you get for so long?" He asks, his tone telling us that he thinks he knows _for certain_ what we do.

I am speechless, but Hiccup stands up. "She's been teaching me Archery, but we're no good with the normal bows from the training grounds, so I've been making custom ones, to make it easier. I've made such good progress!" He beams after ending his extremely convincing tale. I see my mother look at me, her disapproval for me continuing archery showing. I raise an eyebrow to show my confusion and when she thinks it over she remembers I am doing _dragon training_ and archery is no big deal next to that!

Stoick nods, believing us and my parents join in. "Okay. Well I don't want to see no bows and arrows from you my son!" Stoick belly laughs and my parents smile. "Only traditional Viking weapons will do!"

"Now," my mother regains the attention. "I need to questi'n why ye were owt so late, ye knae that isn't safe." She began to look like a mother who had worried for her daughter, and I slowly began to feel rotten I couldn't tell her the truth.

"The other teenagers through a mini-celebration for us," Hiccup and I start and for once I find it comical. We really do think on the same wave-length! "It went much later than expected. _Now,_" We turn to each other.

"_Stop talking at the same time a me Merida!_" Hiccup commands, annoyed.

"_Ye need tae stop talkin' before I make ye!_" I stick my tongue out at him childishly.

My father and mother smile at me. "We wan' tae wish ye luck in advance, because ye deserve it." I nod and we are excused, but as I walk passed my father, he subtly pulls me closer to him and whispers quickly, '_An' ye not-so secret arrow that you brought 'ere can be yer luck charm, or will it be 'Iccup that is, eh?_' I pull away, shaking my head and stifling a laugh. My dad isn't so oblivious after all. To my arrow being smuggled here, I mean. There is _nothing_ going on between Hiccup and I! Why do people think there is?

We get to our room and there, sat on my bed, anticipating us, are my three wee devils. I freeze, not knowing what is about to happen. Hamish coughs and points to Hiccup's bed. We warily follow the instructions. They stand up and stand at the end of the bed. They hold up paper which they have drawn on.

Harris holds up one in each hand. The first one is of my and Hiccup going into the forest. The second one is of us doing archery then a big red cross. Hiccup and I look at each other, worried, then to Harris who looks at the archery picture and shakes his head, showing us he knows that's a lie. Hubbert holds up a drawing of Hiccup and I going into the forest then, in the second drawing… _flying on Toothless_. We look at the triplets with shocked expressions and they smirk mischievously as they point to the big tick on the dragon drawin and nod, telling us they know the truth. _The buggers were flipping spying on us?!_

Their expressions change as Hubbert holds another two drawing up, the first being them hiding as Hiccup and I leave, then the second showing them playing with Toothless and that they liked him and he like them back. Their expressions are now a mixture of solemn and sad as Hubbert puts those drawings on the floor and picks up two more. The first is of us slaying the dragon tomorrow, with Astrid talking to Stoick in the background, then the next page has a drawing of the Vikings finding the other dragons and slaughtering them, toothless among them.

I get off my bed and pull the wee buggers into a hug. "Oh nae! I ain't gonna hurt a dragon nor will I let _anyone_ hurt Toothless. Ever, ye got tha'?" I whispers to them and they pull away, nodding. I smile. "Now, get owt of mine and Hiccup's room before I decide tae kill ye for spyin' on us!" They are out in a flash and as soon as they're gone, I let my smile fall. "Oh, Hiccup, what are we gonna dae?" I say quietly.

He looks at me sadly, his eyes showing how exhausted he is from thinking about this so much. "I really have no idea, Merida, none at all."

I sigh and let my shoulders slump. _I wanna cheer him up, but how?_ I think then get an idea and smile slightly. "Hiccup, I need tae get changed, so could ye…?" He nods and leaves and I put the nightgown on, grimacing at the stains I was too scared to let my mother know about.

"Hiccup! I need ye!" I call out and begin to re-enact my ribbon situation from the night we met. I smile after he finishes and and I turn around to find him returning it.

"Oh the memories we have!" Hiccup said in a dreamy voice, making me chuckle. I reach under my bed and pull out my suitcase, which I rummage through and find my sack and pull out two shiny apples.

We eat them in blissful silence then get into bed and talk for a little longer, then find exhaustion taking its toll on us as we drift off to sleep, trying to ignore what we will have to face tomorrow.


End file.
